The rose and its thorn: Love at First Sight
by GoEun08
Summary: Stephanie was like any girl. She seemed normal but she knew very well that she wasn't. And one night changed everything. Her cousin Harry Potter visits her, they ride a flying car, go to the burrow, go to platform 9 3/4, and bumps into a blonde guy who seemed to fancy her. What'll happen if this Slytherin boy finds out her true identity?
1. Chapter 1

Everything was normal at the Wilson's household until six years old Primrose Wilson heard her retired detective father Henry cursed at the newspaper he was reading. The little brown haired girl gasped and told her father that it wasn't a good thing to curse. Henry was perplexed with what his daughter said. He hadn't opened his mouth the whole time but he was indeed cursing inside his head. That's how Primrose knew that she could do things that other people cannot. She can read people's minds; hear their thoughts as if they were speaking out loud. As she grew up, she learned more tricks such as controlling water or making things explode when she was really mad. Henry, being a well-respected detective during his service, didn't know how to explain the phenomenon surrounding his only child. To keep her out of trouble, he instructed her to not show anyone the things she could do. She was also enrolled to a private school for gifted children, hoping that it could help her get rid of the tricks she could do.

Primrose was already thirteen years old. To anyone who saw her, she was a normal girl. She was a beautiful one too, with long hazelnut brown hair and emerald green eyes. She excelled in her literature class and enjoyed playing soccer after school. She was very friendly and sweet as well but, that didn't help her make friends. Even though she was studying in a school for gifted children, students there still thought that she was different. Some sort of freak. They didn't want to be with her and kept their distance.

The sun was almost setting and primrose was running along their neighborhood in her sweaty and soiled soccer uniform with a dirty white soccer ball stuck under her arm. Her breathing was heavy as she had been running a mile or two now and her ponytailed hair was sticky with sweat, her bangs glued to her forehead. She arrived at the front door of their house minutes before six p.m. she went inside the warm house, placing the soccer ball down and scraping off the dirt from under her shoes to the floor mat. She was about to go to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water when she realized that she wasn't alone. Aside from her father, who was busy making dinner in the kitchen, primrose found three more guests sitting in the living room. She recognized one of them as her cousin Harry Potter.

"Harry, it's so nice to see you!" beamed primrose.

Harry smiled widely and got on his feet, along with the other guests, and was about to hug his dear cousin. They were so eager to hug one another but they both realized how dirty and sweaty she was that they ended up just waving at each other. Primrose was the only cousin that Harry liked. She was completely different from Dudley. His and Primrose's late mother, Freesia, were sisters and that's how they were related.

"It's nice to see you too, Stephanie" said Harry, calling Primrose by her second name which she preferred the most, "Oh by the way, and this is my best friend Ronald Weasley and his father Arthur Weasley"

The younger redheaded boy smiled and shook hands with Stephanie, "I'd prefer to be called Ron"

"It's nice to meet you, Ron" Stephanie said sweetly then shook hands with the older Weasley, "And I would very much appreciate it if you called me by my other name, Stephanie"

After the introductions, Henry announced that dinner was ready. They all gathered around the small round dinner table where each plate had a yummy rib eye steak swimming in hot gravy and some mashed potato with sour cream. Everybody started to eat and Ron was definitely enjoying the dinner that was prepared for them and Stephanie was very amused.

"I'm really happy to see you again, Harry" Stephanie said after eating a piece of her steak, "I haven't seen you in a while and Aunt Petunia or Uncle Dudley wouldn't tell me where you were during school days. What made you visit us today?"

"We're actually here to see you" admitted Harry, eating a spoonful of warm soft mashed potato.

Stephanie was surprised to hear the word _we_ and she looked at the Weasleys. She was pretty sure that she had never met them before but they were there to see her nonetheless. Mr. Weasley wiped his lips clean with a napkin and gave the young girl a friendly smile.

"We're here to tell you that you've been accepted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry" said Mr. Weasley enthusiastically.

Stephanie made a choking sound as she accidentally swallowed a big chunk of steak. She spat it on her napkin and looked at the man in bewilderment.

"Have you gone mental?" was all that Stephanie could say.

"I know, I know it sounds completely crazy and nonsensical but, it is entirely true!" explained Mr. Weasley, "Your father didn't believe us as well either when we told him about it so I had to show him a few tricks then he remembered some weird experiences with you"

"W-with me?" Stephanie looked at her father with a shocked expression, "I thought we weren't supposed to talk about those with other people?"

Henry drew a deep breath and gently held his daughter's trembling fist, "I know but, I think these people are the ones who can actually help you with it"

"You, Primrose Wilson, are a witch" Mr. Weasley finally said and was pulling out an envelope from his coat pocket, "Hogwarts might've seen your potential and they want you to attend this school year. You don't have to worry about expenses anymore because everything has already been covered"

Stephanie carefully took the letter from Mr. Weasley and quietly read it. It was a letter from the school saying that she was accepted for the school year and it was listed there the things that she would need such as a broomstick, cauldron, and text books that were all related to magic. She couldn't believe everything that she was reading and quietly looked at her cousin and Ron, who was still busy eating.

"Are you a wizard?" Stephanie asked Harry, feeling stupid for asking such a question.

Harry smiled and gave her a nod, "As well as Ron. I'm sure you'll definitely enjoy it in Hogwarts"

After dinner, they all went to the front door and Stephanie didn't realize that there was already a luggage with her stuff in it. Mr. Weasley volunteered to take it to his car and shook hands with Henry before going out.

"I'm coming with them?" Stephanie asked her father curiously.

Henry held his daughter's cheeks gently and smiled while looking into her green eyes which always reminded him of his late wife.

"I believe that these people are good" explained Henry, "They're just like you so I'm sure that you'll fit in with them. People won't look at you as if you're different. Besides, Harry will be there. I'm sure he'll take care of you"

Stephanie hugged her father tight and smiled. She didn't really know what was going on, with wizards suddenly appearing in their house but she still agreed to go with them. Ron thanked Henry for the wonderful dinner while Harry gave his uncle a quick hug and promised to visit again soon. Stephanie followed her cousin and Ron to the driveway where she saw a small blue car parked. Mr. Weasley was already in it, ready to drive off the night. Somehow, Stephanie felt disappointed. She was expecting to see a broomstick or something. Ron got in first, followed by Stephanie and Harry. They rolled down the window and waved at Henry.

"See you soon, dad" Stephanie said and waved.

Henry smiled, "See you soon and take care"

Mr. Weasley stepped on the pedal and the car smoothly drove off the ordinary neighborhood. As the car was gaining speed, Stephanie gasped when she noticed that they were starting to float. The wheels of the car were already off the ground and they went higher and higher like an airplane. Stephanie looked down on her neighborhood with excitement in her eyes and giggled.

"This is impossible" she said.

Harry smiled at his cousin's reaction, remembering the first time he had encountered it, "It's not impossible, it's magic"

And through the beautiful night, the blue car flew around London under the starry black sky.


	2. Chapter 2

"Is that Hogwarts?"

Stephanie was looking down at a field with a tall house in the middle. Harry and Ron looked down as well, noticing that they have finally arrived at the Burrow past midnight.

"No, silly" Ron chuckled, "That's our house"

The blue car landed safely on the ground and Mr. Weasley turned off its engine. Harry opened the door and got out followed by Stephanie. She shivered at the chilly breeze of the night and kept her gaze at the _house_. She had never seen such a house before; it had more than three floors in it, almost leaning to the side. The front door slammed open and three women and two guys who looked exactly alike came out. Just by looking at their hair, she knew that they were Ron and Mr. Weasley's family. She quietly stood beside her trunk and watched the middle aged woman hug Harry as if he's her son. She couldn't help but to smile. For witches and wizards, they seemed to be a lot like a normal simple family. After hugging almost everyone who got out of the house, Harry walked towards Stephanie and took her hand.

"And who might this beautiful lady be? Good heavens why are you covered in dirt?" asked the middle aged woman that seemed to be Mrs. Weasley.

Stephanie felt embarrassed that she didn't have time to take a bath and changed clothes after her soccer game.

Harry presented the shy Stephanie to her with a smile, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my cousin Primrose Wilson. She'll be attending Hogwarts this year"

"It's very lovely to meet you all" said Stephanie shyly.

Mrs. Weasley gave her a warm motherly smile and pulled her for a very tight hug, not caring if she was dirty. Stephanie was quite surprised but still hugged her back as she chuckled at the warm welcome. Mrs. Weasley introduced her to her other children—Ginny, her youngest who was in her second year and her twins Fred and George whom she herself got confused as to who was who. Stephanie giggled at how fun the twins were, making fun of their mum and stuff. They promised her that they'll make her stay quite entertaining. Last but not the least, Mrs. Weasley introduced her to another family friend Hermione Granger. The brown haired girl smiled and shook hands with Stephanie.

"It's very exciting to have another muggle friend around" said Hermione.

"What's a muggle?" Stephanie asked innocently as she shook back her hand.

"It seems like we have to teach Primrose a lot of things" Mrs. Weasley said happily, "You can all talk about it inside. You children need to sleep early so you won't look haggard tomorrow on your way to Hogwarts"

Stephanie gasped. They're going to Hogwarts tomorrow already and yet she still didn't have any stuff that she'll need. Harry saw the look on her cousin's face and patted her back.

"Don't worry, we got everything settled. Remember?" Harry said, reminding her of the talk they had over dinner.

"Oh right, I almost forgot" she laughed softly.

"Now let's go in. You have to take a bath as well since you're pretty much covered with dirt from your soccer game"

All of them went inside and Stephanie looked around curiously. It's her first time to enter a witch's house and everything seemed to amuse her. She saw people from picture frames and newspaper move like they're alive, brooms moving on its own and cleaning the floor, and she saw the flight of stairs that seemed to be an eternity. Everything was magical to her. Mrs. Weasley handed her a clean towel and Ginny's spare pajamas then led her to the bathroom which was in the third floor. She closed the bathroom door behind her and took off her soiled clothes and let her sweaty hair loose. She got in the tub filled with warm water and bubbles and felt relaxed. She did love warm baths and she started scrubbing off the dirt from her face and arms. In the middle of her bath, a knock aroused from the door.

"Are you doing alright in there?" It was Harry behind the door, sounding like a very concerned brother.

Stephanie continued to relax and washed her hair thoroughly when she answered back, "I'm doing good. Thanks, Harry"

"No problem. So, what can you say?"

"About what?"

"All of these, of course"

"I still couldn't believe any of it" admitted Stephanie, staring at the water until some of it rose and formed into balls. She played with them like they were balls of yarns except they were made of water with soap bubbles in it, "But then again, I couldn't believe the things I can do either"

"That just means you're special and Hogwarts can help you use that magic for good"

"Hey Harry, are classes in a Magical school hard?"

"Hmm, some are hard but they're definitely more fun than the ones we had back in London" Harry laughed, "Well, I'm going to get some sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow"

"See you, goodnight"

After the bath, Stephanie dried herself with the towel and had put on the pink cotton pajamas that Mrs. Weasley lent her. She felt so refreshed with her skin and hair smelling like fresh strawberries. She went out of the bathroom with the towel placed over her shoulders and easily found Ginny's room, where she was going to stay for the night with Hermione. It was a simple room with two bunk beds, three trunks in the corner, and an orange cat watching an owl inside its cage.

"That's crookshanks" Hermione said, pointing at her orange cat, "And that owl is yours which Harry got for you"

Stephanie quickly walked towards the cage and looked at the beautiful, sandy brown owl. She never thought that she'll have her own owl.

"What are you going to name her?" Ginny asked, lying down on her bed.

Stephanie looked at the owl for a long time, thinking of the perfect name for her new friend. She never had a pet growing up so she wanted a nice name for it.

"Hmm, I'll call her Stardust" she said with a smile.

"That's a lovely name you picked" Hermione complimented and placed her tabby cat on her lap.

Stephanie smiled and sat on the bunk bed across theirs and was still trying to let everything sink in. Just hours ago, she was a normal teenager. And when Harry and the Weasleys came to her home, she suddenly became a witch and was going to attend a magic school the next day. Everything was making her excited and nervous.

"So, a muggle, what is that exactly?" Stephanie asked, remembering the term Hermione used earlier.

"It means non-magical humans" Hermione explained being her usual smart self, "My parents are both dentists and don't know a thing or two about witchcraft or wizardry"

"Well, my dad is a retired detective and mum, she died before I can even meet her" Stephanie shared with a soft smile, "So I'm not sure if magic runs in our family"

"Oh well, muggle or not I'm sure you'll enjoy Hogwarts. The lessons are much better than from the muggle world. We get to ride brooms-"

"Brooms?! Can we really?"

"Of course! And then we can watch Quidditch together"

"And there are a lot of food there" Ginny added with a grin.

Just hearing those things excited Stephanie already. She was so eager to know what this school looked like and how it felt like to study there.

"We do hope you get in Gryffindor" Hermione said with Ginny agreeing with her.

Stephanie had this curious look on her face again as she lied on her side and hugged a soft pillow.

"Now what's a Gryffindor?" she asked.

"When new students enter Hogwarts, we're all sorted to different houses that suit us the most. There are four houses to be exact—Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Throughout your entire school year in Hogwarts you'll remain in that house"

"Where are you guys in?"

"All of us are from Gryffindor"

"Aww, I want to be in Gryffindor as well!" Stephanie said confidently, "But what if I get sorted somewhere else?"

"It's alright. We still get to see each other except during bedtime. There are a lot of nice people in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. But you'll definitely not want to be in Slytherin"

"Why not?"

"Most students in Slytherin are purebloods. They look down on people such as half-bloods or muggles. They think of themselves as superior" Hermione rolled her eyes as she talked about Slytherin.

"Hopefully I don't get in there" Stephanie said, "Like in a muggle school, are there bullies in Hogwarts?"

During her school days, Stephanie have encountered a lot of bullies and she wished that this year she won't be bullied or worse, use magic against her.

Hermione slightly nodded while stroking the hair of crookshanks, "Unfortunately, there are. Even in the magical world, there are bullies. But don't worry, we're here to look after you and I am pretty sure Harry won't let anyone bully you or anything."

"Lights out everyone!" Mrs. Weasley shouted from the first floor.

Ginny turned off the light and got cozy under her blanket as well as Hermione and Stephanie. The three girls said goodnight to each other and got some rest. Stephanie, on the other hand, looked outside the window seeing the bright moon. She smiled, her body filled with excitement with what the next day would bring her. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep, wishing that none of it was just a dream.

laced her tabby cat on her lap.o she wanted a nice name for for her new friend. she


	3. Chapter 3

Stephanie was still tucked in her bed the next morning while her two roommates were already downstairs having breakfast. She was known to be a heavy sleeper and would only wake up if somebody shook her continuously. Everyone else was gathered around the long dinner table, eating breakfast which consisted of pumpkin bread, sausages, sunny side ups, and toast. And in the living room were the trunks of the children and their pets, who in a few hours would be heading off to Hogwarts.

"Is Primrose still asleep?" Mrs. Weasley asked, worried that she might not be able to have some breakfast.

Hermione drank some of her pumpkin juice and nodded, "I tried waking her up but she just won't. It's like she can't hear me"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley. I'll wake her up" harry said with a smile and got up.

He went up the stairs and headed to the bedroom where his cousin was sleeping peacefully. He smiled to himself and sat beside her, poking her nose. Stephanie mumbled a bit and shooed away whatever was on her nose. Harry laughed softly and did it again. He knew very well how much it annoyed Stephanie for he had done it to her whenever he stayed at their house. Unlike with Dudley, Harry had a great relationship with Stephanie. They have this brother-sister bonding. Stephanie finally snapped and woke up in annoyance. She looked around and saw her cousin laughing at her.

"Ugh, I should've known" Stephanie mumbled and rubbed her eyes.

"You need to get up now and have breakfast, we'll be leaving in two hours" Harry said, pulling her up.

"Are we riding the flying car again?"

"No, we're taking a train to Hogwarts"

"A train? I've never rode a train before"

"It'll be fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy it"

The both of them went down and everyone greeted Stephanie a good morning. She took a seat between Fred and Ginny and looked at the food hungrily. Mrs. Weasley filled her plate with food until there's no more space left.

"Eat, child, eat. You'll need all the energy for your first day" she explained, filling her glass with pumpkin juice.

"I-I can't possibly finish all of these, Mrs. Weasley" Stephanie said while eating a sausage.

"Nonsense, dear. I'm sure you'll be able to finish that. After eating, take a bath and put on your uniform"

And so Stephanie ate quietly trying to get her plate clean, while the twins decided to go ahead and will just see the others at the train station later. Stephanie was already eating her third sunny side up when she saw Hermione in her full uniform already. It looked like a normal uniform, except for the black cloak and witch hat. After successfully eating everything on her plate, Stephanie headed upstairs to take a quick bath and wear her uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She liked the uniform on her and felt excited. She fixed her bangs and added a touch of pink lip gloss on her lips and headed back downstairs with a heavy tummy.

Once everything was settled, the Weasleys and their three guests went inside the small car. The back seat was already crowded that Stephanie had to sit on Harry's lap while Ginny sat on her brother. Slowly, Mr. Weasley started to drive until the car flew to the sky and headed to the train station.

"King's Cross Station? That's where we're going?" Stephanie asked as she saw the familiar train station just below them.

"Have you been there?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I might've passed by it once or twice"

"Well you're right; the train heading to Hogwarts is in that station"

The blue car parked along with the other cars and the young ones got out and pulled out their trunks from the back. They all headed inside in a hurry and Stephanie looked at her train ticket where it said _Platform 9 ¾. _Before she can even ask about such a weird platform, she saw Ron and Hermione run towards a concrete wall. She quickly closed her eyes expecting to hear something crash but, there was no sound. When she opened her eyes, both Hermione and Ron were out of sight. Mrs. Weasley walked towards her and placed her hands over Stephanie's shoulder to calm her down.

"Just run straight through the wall and you'll get there in no time" she advised.

Stephanie took a deep breath and nodded. Holding onto her trolley tightly, she ran towards the wall with her eyes closed. The next thing she knew, she found herself standing in the middle of a different platform with wizards and witches everywhere. A lot of kids were boarding the beautiful train while parents were everywhere saying their goodbyes. The whole platform was full that she couldn't see Harry or the Weasleys anywhere. As she squeezed herself through the crowd, she bumped onto someone and another person bumped onto her accidentally busting her lip until it bled. She looked up and saw a guy around her age or older, with blonde hair and blue eyes, looking at her with an annoyed look.

"I-I'm sorry, I got pushed by someone" Stephanie stuttered, still being pushed by the crowd toward the blonde guy.

The guy who was looking rather furious minutes ago, softened with just one look at the beautiful girl in front of him. He gently pulled her out of the crowd and Stephanie felt like she can breathe once again.

"Are you alright?" the guy asked with a gentle voice, pulling out a white hanky from his pocket and damped it on Stephanie's lip, "Your lip is bleeding"

Stephanie smiled shyly and gave him a quick nod, "I'm alright. Sorry again for bumping you"

"It was nothing"

"Draco, come on already!" A black haired girl shouted from inside the train, giving Stephanie a deadly glare.

"I gotta go" the guy named Draco said with a smile, leaving the hanky with her, and ran towards the door of the train.

Stephanie was just standing and staring at the direction where the blonde guy went to when she finally heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley calling out her name. She ran towards them with her stuff and Mr. Weasley quickly loaded her trunk and owl inside the train.

"You better get inside now dear before the train leaves you" Mrs. Weasley said in a hurry, giving her a quick kiss on both cheeks and pushed her inside the train.

Stephanie got inside the train just in time and accompanied her cousin, Ron, and Hermione in one compartment. She sat down tiredly; still catching her breath from the crowd she just passed by.

"I've never seen parents go crazy sending off their children to school" Stephanie pointed out and kept on damping her lip with the hanky.

"Blimey, what happened to you?" Ron asked as he noticed her bleeding lip.

"Someone from the crowd accidentally elbowed me"

"Does it hurt?" Hermione asked and tried to take a look at it.

"Yes, it's alright. Don't worry about me"

Minutes later, the train finally started to move and the parents were all waving at their children wishing them a great year in school. While inside the compartment, Hermione took the opportunity to teach Stephanie some stuff so she would at least have some idea when she got in Hogwarts.

"Come on, Hermione, don't bore her with those" Ron said in a disgusted tone, pointing at the books she was holding.

"Don't bother, Stephanie loves studying as much as Hermione" Harry told Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and faced Stephanie again, "As I was saying"

During the trip, Hermione taught Stephanie some easy stuff she needed to know about Potions, Defence against the Dark Arts, Care for Magical Creatures, Charms, Transfiguration, and Divination. Ron tried his best not to listen at the lessons and was thrilled when the lady selling candies passed by. Even Stephanie got distracted and looked at the trolley filled with assorted weird looking candies. She stood among the students buying and saw stuff like chocolate frogs and jelly beans with ghastly flavors.

"Which one would you recommend for me?" Stephanie tugged onto Harry's shirt.

Harry looked around and handed her a box of what seemed to be cupcakes and grinned, "Cauldron cakes are really good"

"I will punch you if this upsets my tummy"

Harry just laughed and bought some licorice wand and pumpkin pansies. Stephanie looked at the price of the cauldron cakes and got some gold from her pocket and handed it to the lady. As soon as she got her change, she went back in the compartment to continue listening to Hermione's lecture. While listening about potions, she opened her box of cauldron cakes and took a bite out of it. It tasted like a normal chocolate cupcake with chocolate filling in it. She counted the change on her hand and realized that the lady gave her more than she needed.

"Oh wait, I need to see that candy trolley again" Stephanie said, putting the chocolate down on her seat.

"Why, are you getting more candies?" Ron asked while stuffing his mouth with gummy dragons.

Stephanie shook her head and counted the change on her palm again, "No, the lady gave me the wrong amount of change. I need to give it back"

She slid the door open and walked out along the train's corridor. The trolley lady was almost at the end of the wagon where most of the Slytherin students were staying. Draco was there to buy a drink accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle who just kept on taking whatever they like. Draco was about to get inside his compartment when he saw the girl from earlier approaching the trolley lady.

"Excuse me, miss. I believe you gave me the wrong amount of change" Stephanie said shyly, handing the old lady the extra gold coins.

The trolley lady smiled at her, "Why thank you my dear for being too honest. Bless you, dear girl"

Just as Stephanie was about to get back to her compartment, she saw the blonde guy smiling at her—the same guy who offered her a hanky for her bleeding nose.

"You two go on" she heard him whisper to his two friends, who quickly went inside their compartment with the candies they bought. Once it was only the two of them in the corridor, he smiled at her and Stephanie did the same.

"Oh hello, it's you again uh—"

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he introduced himself with a smile and reached his hand out.

Stephanie smiled as she shook hands with him, "Primrose Wilson. I would prefer that you call me by my second name Stephanie. Thank you by the way for lending me your handkerchief. I would give it back to you now but sadly, it's full of my blood"

"That's quite alright, you can keep it. I didn't know you were a student at Hogwarts"

"Oh right, I am actually a new student"

"Are you now? Hmm, it would be fun if you get to be in the same house as I am"

Without realizing it, Stephanie's cheeks turned as red as the flower she's named after, "W-what house are you in?"

"I'm in Slytherin" Draco said proudly and leaned back on the wall while folding his arms, "It would be fun if you can join us there"

"I guess that would be nice, especially that I now made a friend there"

Draco smiled at her warmly, enchanted by her sweetness and beauty. All of a sudden, one of the compartment doors opened and the same black haired girl from earlier stepped out.

"Draco, we'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Come here already" she said, tugging on his shirt, and gave Stephanie another glare.

"I'll see you around later then, Stephanie?" Draco said, waiting for a reply before going back in.

Stephanie looked away from the black haired girl and quickly smiled at Draco, "Yes, I'll see you around. It's nice meeting you"

She headed back to her own compartment and saw her friends putting on their black cloaks already.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked while fixing his cloak.

"Oh uh, just looking around the train" she lied and looked for her cloak inside her luggage.

The Hogwarts Express started to slow down and kids went out of their compartments and off the train. They rejoined their friends they haven't seen during vacation and tried catching up with the newest things that have been happening. Stephanie walked with them and tried to observe them. They seemed normal school kids talking about Quidditch, spells, and dragons. They kept on walking and Harry quietly elbowed Stephanie.

"That's the school, Hogwarts" he whispered and pointed ahead.

Stephanie looked ahead and gasped at the sight of an enormous castle ahead. It looked so beautiful and she cannot believe that she'll be studying in a castle. By group, students rode a carriage which will take them to Hogwarts for the beginning of a new school year.

.


	4. Chapter 4

Once they arrived at the castle, the students all gathered at the great hall. For old students, the great hall was a normal sight to them. But for new students such as Stephanie, the great hall was a magical place with floating candles and a transparent ceiling. Stephanie sat down with her cousin and friends and saw a line of teachers in front taking their seats. There was a giant, a dwarf, and one that looked like Merlin.

"That's Professor Albus Dumbledore" Hermione explained and pointed at the old man with a long white beard getting ready to make a speech, "He's the headmaster"

Professor Dumbledore raised his hands to silence the hall and looked at the young witches and wizards with a very warm smile.

"Welcome to a new school year at Hogwarts!" he boomed followed by loud applauses and cheers, "This year will definitely be a good year. We have new professors waiting for you and as you may all know, Quidditch season is in the air. Starting this year, each team is open to accepting new members. Not only that, as a new school year comes, we must also welcome our newest students and get them sorted to the houses where they belong!"

Professor McGonagall stood upfront holding the sorting hat and a stool magically flew beside her. On her other hand was a scroll with the names of the new students who will be sorted out. She called out a few and most of them got sorted in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. The next name that was called out was Primrose Stephanie Wilson. Stephanie could feel her cheeks burning and her chest tightening. She felt so nervous that she couldn't even stand up. Harry had to pull her up from the bench and gave her a soft push on the back. Stephanie swallowed hard and slowly walked towards Prof. McGonagall. She carefully sat down on the stool and felt the sorting hat placed on her head. Draco was sitting with his friends quietly, covering a smile with his hand as he eagerly waited for the sorting hat's decision.

"Hmm, interesting lady you are" The sorting hat spoke, "A shy little flower you are, gentle and sweet. But once someone crosses your path, you cannot control a great deal of power you possess. Hmm, really interesting. I shall put you in…Gryffindor!"

Everyone in Gryffindor shouted in delight and Stephanie ran towards them and was congratulated by Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, and other Gryffindor students. For a minute there, Stephanie's chest loosened. She was so happy that she got sorted in Gryffindor. Once every new student got sorted, a banquet of food appeared on each table making everyone drool. The students started to eat and were looking forward to the new school year. Stephanie was busy eating and listening to her friend's stories when her eyes suddenly wandered towards the Slytherin table. She saw Draco smiling at her and she didn't realize that she was blushing. For her, Draco was really good looking and it felt like she had a crush on him. She quickly took a gulp of her juice and looked around.

"Hey, where's the way to the lavatory?" she whispered to Ginny.

"Just take a right outside the hall. Would you like me to accompany you?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, no thank you. I can do it on my own"

She then excused herself and walked briskly out of the noisy great hall. The hallway was quiet and dimly lit with no one around. Stephanie looked around for the lavatory and finally found it near the stairs. She went inside and opened the sink, washing her hands under the running water. She turned off the faucet and looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her bangs. She couldn't believe that she was now staying in a castle full of young witches and wizards just like her when earlier she was just an ordinary girl. Just as she was about to go back in the great hall, she gasped in fright when a tall figure suddenly stood on her way. Her body relaxed when she finally recognized that it was Slytherin's Draco Malfoy smiling at her.

"I'm sorry for startling you" Draco chuckled.

Stephanie drew a deep breath and patted her chest, "I almost got a heart attack but, hello."

"Hello to you too"

The two of them decided to walk along the quiet hallways together with only their footsteps, crickets, and breathing as the sounds they could hear.

"Are we allowed to wander around while everyone is in there?" she asked nervously.

As a new student, she didn't want to have a bad reputation or anything. She wanted to be a good student and she didn't want any magic school writing a letter to her father.

Draco smirked and glanced at her, "Are you afraid?"

"Of course I am!" she puffed her cheeks, "As a new student, I don't want to do anything that will get me in trouble"

"Don't worry; I won't get you in trouble. I feel disappointed though, that you didn't get in Slytherin"

"Hmm, me too" Stephanie admitted, looking at the fireflies that flew around the courtyard, "But I do like Gryffindor as well. We can still see each other around this huge castle though"

"That's right but, I can't talk to you that often in public"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm in Slytherin and you're from Gryffindor"

Stephanie suddenly remembered what Hermione said about Slytherin students and how they think they're superior and all.

"It's strange" Draco spoke again, stopping in the middle of the corridor.

Stephanie stopped walking as well and looked at him curiously, "What is?"

"I've never been this friendly or interested to anyone. It's like; something just drew me to you"

"I-is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know, but I do like it" he said with a grin, "Did you put a spell on me?"

"Of course not!" Stephanie didn't even know how to cast spells yet.

"I'm just kidding" Draco laughed and poked her cheek.

Stephanie began to blush again and she tried looking away to hide her red cheeks. After their short walk and conversation, the both of them decided to go back to the great hall. Just in time, the students were all headed out now led by their Head boy and girl to their dorms. Stephanie looked through the crowd and quickly joined Harry and his friends.

"Where were you?" Harry worriedly asked.

"I got lost looking for the lavatory" she lied and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Well, next time go there with someone"

The Gryffindor Head boy led them up the stairs and in front of the portrait of the fat lady. He told her the password and a passage opened leading them to the Gryffindor house. Stephanie went in and was surprised to see a room of crimson and gold. Some went to their dorms while the others slacked off in the common room talking about random stuff. Stephanie was then pulled by Hermione to the girl's dorm that she didn't even have the chance to say goodnight to Harry. Inside the dorm, Stephanie found a bed ready for her just beside the window. She sat down on the soft bed and put her hands inside her pockets to make herself warm. She suddenly felt something inside and pulled out the hanky with her blood in it. She looked at the blood stained white handkerchief and realized there was an initial printed on it.

D.M.

Stephanie looked at Hermione who was busy unpacking her luggage and decided to ask her about this Slytherin guy.

"Hermione, do you know a guy named Draco Malfoy?" she asked curiously.

Hermione suddenly stopped what she's doing and shot her a serious look, "Why, did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?"

"N-no, he didn't"

"Why are you asking about him then?"

"I bumped into him when we were in Platform 9 ¾ and—"

"Did he punch you that's why your lip is bleeding?!"

"What, no!" Stephanie exclaimed, confused with the way Hermione was reacting, "He offered me his handkerchief when my lip was bleeding"

"He did?" now Hermione sounded surprised and took a sit on Stephanie's bed.

"Why'd you think he punched me?"

Hermione sighed and tried to explain everything, "Look, Draco isn't someone you want to make friends with. He isn't a good person. Everyone here knows that Harry and Draco are like nemesis. If he finds out that you're his cousin, he will hate you too. He hates muggle born or half-bloods and he will definitely torture you when he finds out about your real identity"

Stephanie couldn't believe anything that Hermione just told her about Draco. He didn't seem to be that kind of guy. Well she did read his mind more than once and he had a temper and was a very proud guy. But then again, how can a sweet charming guy like Draco possibly act like that? After their little talk, Stephanie changed into her pajamas and lay down on the bed comfortably. She looked at the handkerchief again and quietly hid it under her pillow. Before she closed her eyes, Hermione walked towards her with a soft smile.

"Welcome to Hogwarts again, Primrose" she said sweetly, "And I will gladly escort you to your first class tomorrow morning"

"That's too kind of you, Hermione. Thank you very much" Stephanie chuckled.

"No problem. Have a goodnight"

"You too"


	5. Chapter 5

Stephanie woke up early the next day, fixing her necktie in front of the mirror and ruffling her brown bangs. She was known as a heavy sleeper but, this day felt different for her. She was somehow excited to get to her Defense against the dark arts class and learn some cool stuff. Unfortunately, Hermione couldn't keep her promise to Stephanie. She left the Gryffindor house minutes ago in a hurry to do some reading at the library. Stephanie had no other choice but to go to her class alone. With her first year D.A.D.A. book and class admittance card, she made her way out. She walked along the hallway and saw other students running to their class while some were going to the Great Hall for some breakfast. She wanted to eat breakfast but her first class was going to start in thirty minutes. She looked at her admittance card once more and it was written there that the venue of her class was in the dungeons. She looked left and right, wondering where the dungeons might be.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were already in their D.A.D.A. class along with other students, quietly watching Snape walk around the room and talking about vampires and their origins. As much as D.A.D.A. was a very interesting class, it was always quiet. Students were obviously scared of Severus Snape and only Hermione had the guts to keep raising her hand. In the middle of his lecture, Snape stopped when the door behind creaked open. The students turned their heads around and Harry was very much surprised to see his cousin. Stephanie was standing stiffly and clutching her book. Her cheeks started to turn in a deep shade of red because of all the eyes that were looking at her.

"S-sorry for disturbing your class, sir" she managed to speak with a shaky voice, "B-but Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore told me that I will be taking this class"

Severus Snape didn't say a word but only reached his hand out for the admittance card. Stephanie walked briskly to the aisle without looking at the students and handed her admittance card to him. Snape took it without taking a glance and just looked at her.

"Very well, Miss Wilson, you may take the vacant seat beside Mr. Malfoy at the back" he said and placed the card on his desk. He then continued on with his lecture about vampires while turning Harry's head to the front in the process.

Stephanie made her way to the vacant seat at the back, sitting down and quietly placing her book on the table. She made eye contact with Draco and smiled shyly without saying a word and listened to the lecture. After talking about the origin of vampires, Snape told them to bring out their books and answer questions one to five. Since Stephanie had a first year book, Draco placed his book in the middle for the both of them to share. They quietly started on their seatwork and from time to time looked at each other and smiled. Harry stealthily looked behind and could see his cousin and Draco smiling at each other which was weird for him.

"That's odd, why's Draco smiling at Stephanie?" he whispered.

Ron took a glance behind and looked at them as well, "Maybe he fancies her?"

"I doubt that. I mean, he doesn't speak to anyone non-Slytherin"

Snape was walking around the room making sure that the students were making their work when he could hear murmuring coming from Harry and Ron. Without any notice, he hit their heads with a notebook and told them to concentrate on their work. Stephanie made a few changes in her work and after reading it; she closed her notebook and got up. She politely handed it to Snape and was quickly dismissed so she could get to her next class. She grabbed her stuff from the table and smiled at Draco.

"See you around" she smiled and left the class.

Draco quickly finished his work as well without even rereading it and handed it to Snape in a hurry and ran outside the dungeon. He looked left and right and found Stephanie walking along a crowd of students trying to find her way.

"Stephanie!" he called out and ran after her.

Stephanie stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to see Draco running towards him. She smiled at him and noticed how people around were looking at them.

"Did you finish your work already?" asked Stephanie, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I did" replied Draco, still catching his breath, "What's your next class?"

"Hmm, let's see" Stephanie pulled out a few admittance cards from her pocket and checked what was next, "I have Care of Magical Creatures next"

"I have the same. Shall we go together?"

"Won't you wait for your two friends?" she was referring to Crabbe and Goyle since she noticed how the three of them were always together.

Draco smirked and started to walk ahead leading her the way to their next class, "Those noobs will eventually spend long hours in that class finishing their essay"

Their next class wasn't something that was taught inside a room. It was more of a field study and Draco walked at a path just behind the castle and towards a forest. Stephanie followed him eagerly, feeling the breeze of the wind and the warmth of the sun. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary except for trees and shrubs.

"Care for Magical Creatures, are there really magical creatures out here?" Stephanie asked curiously.

Draco found a place to sit on and sat on it while giving Stephanie an amused look, "Have you not seen any weird creatures before?"

As a girl who grew up not knowing that she's a witch, Stephanie had no clue at all. She suddenly remembered what Hermione told her about Draco and tried her best not let him know that she was in fact a muggle.

"W-well, I've seen a chicken with three legs" she mumbled, feeling embarrassed after realizing what she just said.

Draco suppressed a smile and looked around the wide forest, "You're quite funny. But honestly, I don't fancy this class. I don't fancy any class at all except defense against the dark arts. That's what we really need, not to learn about taking care about weird useless creatures"

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say" Stephanie puffed her cheeks in annoyance because of what he said out loud and mentally, "All creatures have something to contribute and none of them are useless"

"I…I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry" replied Draco with full of sincerity which was something he didn't do regularly.

Stephanie drew a deep breath and smiled at him, "It's alright. I just really like animals"

"Oh really? What's your favorite animal then?"

"Hmm, I've always liked dogs. They're really cute"

Minutes later, their classmates arrived with their professor Hagrid. Stephanie excused herself from Draco to join the other Gryffindor students while Draco was accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle. As soon as Stephanie joined her cousin and friends, they started to ask her questions as to why she's so close to Draco Malfoy. They kept on chattering until they didn't notice that Hagrid was looking at them.

"How about we have our new student as our volunteer, eh?" Hagrid suggested with a merry smile.

Stephanie stopped talking to her friends and looked at their giant teacher with a clueless expression. She wasn't obviously listening to what he was talking about.

"V-volunteer for what?" she asked.

"To feed the Jabberwocky of course"

Hagrid walked at the area where it was shaded by the trees and carefully grabbed onto big chains that was obviously tied onto something. Everybody gasped, including Stephanie, at the sight of the creature that was hiding in the shade. It was a rather hideous looking beast with huge dark reptilian wings and tail, gigantic furry claws, and teeth that can slice into anything. Its dragon like skin was dark as blood with long slashes. It began to drool and its breathing was heavy as if it was eager to attack something. It didn't smell good either for its breath reeked of corpse. The students were all standing still with some having horrified expressions while some, Neville Longbottom, had already fainted. Hagrid was the only one with a huge smile on his face as if he was showing off his beloved dog to friends.

"H-Hagrid, is it safe to have such creature here?" Hermione asked, looking at the hungry creature.

Hagrid boomed with laughter and nodded, "Why of course it is! It was actually Professor Dumbledore's suggestion to study about Jabberwockys. Now where was I? Ah yes, Miss Wilson!"

Stephanie almost skipped a heartbeat when she heard her name being called out. She actually wished that she wasn't the only 'Ms. Wilson' in class. She swallowed hard and carefully stepped forward, trying to hide the fear that was eating her up. She stayed as close as she could to Hagrid and everyone gasped again as the creature called the jabberwocky started sniffing her. Draco got up from where he was sitting and pushed the students in front of him to get a better view. He was worried for Stephanie but he didn't have the guts to do anything about it. Stephanie stood still, her eyes getting teary as she could smell the foul breath of the beast in front of her.

"Now now, don't worry. This creature is completely harmless in the morning" Hagrid explained and took something from the bag he was carrying. He pulled out fresh raw meat and handed it to Stephanie.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked bewildered, "Could that thing possibly kill us at night?"

"Err, sort of" replied Hagrid hesitantly, "This creature is like a werewolf. In the morning it is tamed but at night, it becomes a horrifying beast that eats whatever living creature it sees"

"And what are those marks on its skin?" a student asked, referring to the slashes on its scaly body.

Stephanie tossed the raw meat in the air which the Jabberwocky delightfully ate. She looked at the scars the student had pointed and suddenly remembered a book she read which had a creature like this one.

"It was attacked with a sword" Stephanie absentmindedly said, staring at the beast that was feasting on the meat.

Hagrid smiled at the new student, "Well done, Ms. Wilson. It is true that this fellow had been attacked by men with the use of a sword. A lot of Jabberwockys had been slain by men over the centuries"

"I've read about this creature before but, I never thought it really existed" the fear that once filled Stephanie was now turned into astonishment as she looked at the beast like it was a piece of art.

"Oh you won't believe what other creatures you'll find around here, Ms. Wilson" said Hagrid with a smile, "I'm pretty sure you will enjoy my class as Harry told me you fancy learning about magical creatures"

Stephanie looked at her cousin with a warm smile, "I do, actually. It fascinates me on how they live"

Draco was just a few inches away from them that he can hear what they were talking about. He watched the way Harry and Stephanie laughed and joked around each other which outraged him. He moved to the back again where he originally was staying and still kept an eye on Harry and Stephanie from there.


	6. Chapter 6

After the class with Hagrid, students went back to the castle for their lunch. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all heading to the Great Hall to eat when Stephanie excused herself. She wanted to go to the library and find interesting books she could read so she wouldn't get bored in the girls' dorm. Draco was just standing in one corner of the hallway with Crabbe and Goyle, watching Stephanie separate from Harry and his friends. He quickly told them to go ahead at the Great Hall while he'll go somewhere else to do something. Draco walked casually along the crowded corridor, following Stephanie from behind. He first didn't know where she was heading until he finally realized the path she was taking.

Stephanie went inside the library quietly and was stunned. The books in that huge room consisted of real magical stories and not just some made up fairy tales. She looked from aisle to aisle, reading the titles of the books and looking for one that fancied her. Draco hid on the other aisle, pretending to look for a book, and peeked through the shelves and could barely see her face.

"How long will you be tailing me?" Stephanie finally said, taking a quick glance on the books and could see Draco's peeking blue eyes.

Draco was surprised that he accidentally tumbled on a few books. The other students shushed him down and while rolling his eyes at them, he grabbed the books and piled them up on a table. He heard giggling from the Stephanie's direction and slowly walked up to herother students shushed him down and while rolling his eyes at them, he grabbed the books and piled them up on a table. and watched her look at the books on the upper shelves.

"I didn't mean to stalk you or something" he whispered.

Stephanie smiled and kept on scanning the books on the upper shelves, "It's quite alright. I find it quite amusing. You sound distracted though, I mean your head"

"My head?"

"Your mind is full of questions and thoughts. Sorry, I didn't mean to read your thoughts"

"You can read people's minds?"

"I can, actually" Stephanie admitted to someone else than her father and looked at Draco, "But don't worry, I can't read yours at the moment. It's got too many things that it's all jumbled up"

"Can you decipher any of my thoughts even if they're jumbled up?" asked Draco curiously.

Stephanie faced him and concentrated, "I can hear my name and Harry's…Hagrid…The jabberwocky. Hmm, there's also something about hate"

Draco smirked, amused that she got the highlights of his thought.

"Oh yeah, are you okay?" asked Draco worriedly, "I mean during the class earlier with that filthy beast"

"Yes, of course I am. Truthfully, I was terrified. I wanted to cry because I thought it was going to eat me"

He kept on looking at her and could see the curiosity and a hint of fear in her eyes.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

Stephanie looked down and started fondling with her fingers, scared to ask whatever was in her mind. But she took a deep break and asked him anyway.

"What is it that you hate?"

"Do you fancy Potter?" Draco asked back, not answering her question.

Stephanie looked at him as if he just said a weird joke. She was expecting to hear something like he hated Harry or muggles.

"Fancy him? Of course not, why would you think that?" but Draco didn't have to answer because Stephanie could finally hear his thoughts clearly, "Yes, I think being in the same house is the reason why we're close"

"Did you just read my mind?" Draco laughed.

Stephanie giggled softly and nodded, "Sorry, I'm trying my best not to read people's mind. But no, I do not fancy him"

"Does that mean you've read my mind during our first meeting at the train station?"

Quietly, Stephanie tried to remember that day. She definitely read his mind that day and it was the reason why she felt shy and nervous around him. _Who is this girl? Why is she making my heart beat so fast?_ That was Draco's thoughts during their first encounter at platform 9 ¾. Without realizing it, her cheeks started to get rosy which Draco quickly noticed. He didn't need to wait for an answer anymore because her reaction said it all. He cleared his throat and quickly grabbed a book from the shelves, trying to dismiss the awkwardness.

"I recommend this book to you" said Draco.

Stephanie took the old book from him and looked at it, "Fanciful spells and tricks for beginners?"

"You'll learn some spells there that aren't taught in class. It could be useful. I actually used some spells there to prank people"

"By prank you mean bullying?" Stephanie teased with a playful smile.

Draco chuckled although he felt embarrassed that the girl he's trying to impress knew about his status as a bully. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "I'm not as bad as what people say. Especially to people I like"

Stephanie blushed again and chuckled, "T-thank you, Draco. I'll go borrow this one then"

After checking out the book, the both of them left the library and walked to the great hall. With so many students around, Draco kept his distance from her as if they have never talked to each other before. As a Malfoy, he had this reputation of only mingling with Slytherin students. Stephanie turned around and noticed the gap between the two of them and just smiled. It didn't bother her actually; she was just amused on why a handsome guy like him seemed to be interested in her. Stephanie found a vacant space at the great hall and sat down. Food finally appeared in front of her and she was so excited to eat. Draco wanted to accompany her but Harry and his two friends had beat him to it. He had no choice but to walk away and joined Crabbe and Goyle instead who were stuffing their mouth with too much food.

"For a new student, you keep wandering on your own" Ron pointed out while taking a seat across her.

Stephanie took a small bite on her sausage and looked at them, "It's no big deal. We're within the castle anyway"

"Have you been hanging out with Malfoy?" asked Hermione straightly.

"Malfoy? Why's Malfoy a part of this?" Harry asked, sharing confused looks with Ron and sipped his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Your dear cousin told me that Malfoy was the one who helped her out when she got into a little accident at the train station. And you saw them during Snape's class, they were laughing"

"Is it bad to joke around?" Stephanie asked, not understanding the big deal about making friends with Malfoy until she read his thought, "What's a death eater?"

"Sshh!" the three chorused hoarsely and looked around making sure that no one heard her.

Definitely, Stephanie had a lot to learn more about the world of magic. And as she ate, the three gladly told her everything that they've been through since their first year in Hogwarts. They mentioned stuff such as resurrection stone, death eaters, chambers of secrets, a person called you-know-who, and dementors. At first Stephanie couldn't take it all in. There were many names and things she couldn't understand but she did understand the part where there was an evil wizard who wanted her cousin killed and Malfoy's family was actually serving this evil wizard.

"We don't know what he's up to" said Hermione truthfully, "But maybe you-know-who or someone else knows you're blood related to Harry. Maybe they're trying to get close to you so they can get some information from you"

"Just a friendly reminder, keep away from Malfoy at all cost" added Harry, "Sooner or later he'll find out that you're a muggle anyway or that you're related to me"

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were right. Draco will eventually find out Stephanie's true identity and once he did, he will loathe her. Without saying a word, Stephanie just nodded to them and continued eating her lunch. She took a glance at Draco's direction and could see him laughing with his two companions. She could read his mind at that moment—making fun and insulting her cousin and two friends. But when Draco looked at Stephanie's direction, he smiled and his thoughts had changed. _Would it be a good idea if I ask her to hangout in Hogsmeade during the weekend? Why does Potter have to be around her? She's very lovely. _Stephanie couldn't help but smile to herself. It was her first time to encounter a guy who had such thoughts about her. Unlucky for her that the guy, the only guy probably, who liked her was the one she had to avoid at all cost.

When she finished everything on her plate, the dirty dishes magically disappeared from the table and Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up with their stuff.

"Come on, we need to get to Transfiguration class" said Harry, helping his cousin get up and handing her her belongings.

Stephanie smiled sweetly and took them from him, "Thank you very much, Harry"

The two of them walked together and Stephanie could clearly hear Draco's thoughts as if he was just standing next to her. It was full of rage and curses, wishing that Harry would leave her alone. She was pretty sure that it was the feeling of jealousy which was making him curse like that. It then made Stephanie smile while Harry looked at her confused as to why she was suddenly smiling to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

On the sixth day in Hogwarts, Stephanie was already getting comfortable. She enjoyed every class and excelled in every subjects most especially potions and defense against the dark arts. She also made a lot of friends and some male students even started courting her. It was the first time that guys ever fancied her and she was quite flattered when they tell her how she was a great witch. And every day, Stephanie would go to Snape's or Hagrid's class really early so she could spend some time hanging out with Draco.

Her next class for that day was Divination with Professor Trelawney. They sat by groups of threes around round tables covered with purple cloths with each of them having a teacup with herbs in it. As always, Harry was with his two best friends while Stephanie was grouped with Neville and a girl from Ravenclaw. Professor Trelawney looked at her students ecstatically through her big spectacles and told them to turn their books to page thirty nine and begin to decipher the herbs in their cups. The students began to flip through the pages of their book and Trelawney suddenly gasped loudly in front of Stephanie.

Stephanie was quite startled, unsure if she did something wrong or if there was something weird on her face. Trelawney moved closer to her and took her hand, reading her through her palm like a fortune teller. From time to time she would let out some _oohs_ and _ahhs_ making Stephanie and the other students curious on whatever she was seeing. She looked up at the brown haired girl with a wide smile, squeezing her hand in excitement.

"You, young lady, are a spectacular witch" Trelawney complimented.

Stephanie's cheeks turned scarlet as she was never used to getting compliments. In her old school, students looked at her as if she was some sort of weirdo. But obviously in Hogwarts, people looked at her as a bright student like Hermione.

"I-I am?" asked Stephanie, wondering what things had her professor saw in her palm.

Trelawney nodded and once again looked at her palm, feeling its smoothness and tracing the veins under her skin.

"Yes, indeed" she said, "All your life, people looked at you as if you were crazy. There were times when your own father thought you're some sort of freak. Well, that's explainable. Muggles aren't used to seeing magic"

Stephanie felt something caught in her throat that she was unable to speak. She looked at Trelawney as she continued on telling everyone about her being a half witch and half muggle and that she was gifted with extraordinary magic that didn't need the use of a wand. Although she was speaking, Stephanie couldn't her voice. She could only see her mouth moving. The only sound she could hear was the loud thumping of her heart. Her secret, having muggle blood, was finally out. At the corner of her eye, she could see Draco's blonde hair. She didn't dare look at his direction but she definitely knew that he was there. He was there to hear that she was a half blood. And for the first time, his mind was quiet. There wasn't anything in his mind that Stephanie could hear. She came back to her senses once Trelawney let go of her hand and told them to continue deciphering what was in their cups.

"Are you alright?" Neville had asked Stephanie softly, noticing how pale she had gotten.

Stephanie held her cheeks with her cold hands and gave him a quick nod, "I-I'm alright, just a bit cold"

She quickly took her cup with both hands and tried to decipher what it meant. According to the book and the formation of the damp leaves in the cup, she would be happy throughout the year and expect unexpected things to happen. She scoffed for a bit and stared at her cup. She doubted that she deciphered it correctly. She tried lifting her head up and forced herself to look at Draco's direction. She saw him playing with his teacup, not showing any interest in it or about his future. His gaze quickly turned to Stephanie's which made her drop her teacup on the floor until it shattered into smaller pieces.

"I-I'm so sorry I'll get that" Stephanie uttered and got on her feet.

But before she could even pick up the shattered pieces of the cup, Hermione took her wand out and casted a spell that fixed the teacup back to normal.

Trelawney dismissed them early and Stephanie went to the Gryffindor house with Harry. She walked around the common room and sank on the red couch in front of the fireplace. Compared to earlier, Stephanie's aura had changed. It turned from excited to glum. Harry had noticed it ever since they went to divination class and he sat with her to talk about it.

"Yes, it's exactly about that" Stephanie mumbled softly before Harry could even open his mouth.

"Can you not do that?" whined Harry, trying to clear his mind so his cousin couldn't read anything.

"Sorry, I can't help it"

"It's alright. But why does it affect you too much? By any chance, do you fancy Malfoy?"

Stephanie's eyes widened as she faced him, "I-it's nothing like that! It's just that, he was so nice to me. I remember during defense against the dark arts class, he was helping me a lot. When there were things I couldn't understand, he would explain it to me thoroughly. Back in London, I had no one who was that nice to me. They all thought I was a freak"

"I know how you feel. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always looked at me that way and I have to live them" Harry explained and placed his hand over her shoulder, "There really are things that aren't meant to be, Stephanie. You might've lost one friend but, you have others who are willing to make friends with you. Look at here, for example. Everyone in Gryffindor is already your friend!"

"You're right, I do have friends already. The weasleys are pretty nice, as well as Hermione"

"See? You don't have to be sad. Besides, that nasty Malfoy isn't a good person anyway"

"Just because you're not in good terms doesn't make him a bad person" Stephanie chuckled and got up, "I'm tired with all the classes we had. I'm going to our dorm and get some sleep"

"Aren't you going to have some dinner?"

"I'll pass tonight"

"Oh alright, sleep well"

When Stephanie went inside the girls' dorm, she was all alone. She glumly dragged herself to her bed and fell down on her tummy. Even though harry did try to comfort her, she was still bummed about it. She did like Draco. There was something about him that made her like spending times with him. She suddenly remembered something and looked at the books on her night table. Along with her books was the one she borrowed at the library which Draco recommended for her. She sat in the middle of her bed in a lotus position and grabbed the book. It was a very entertaining book that included spells that were quite interesting. There were spells that can turn a person's head into a cat, make a person dance for hours, and to control water. She grabbed her wand and tried out some of the spells. Some were successful and some just broke her things. But in the end, she found herself enjoying it. She was excited for morning to come so that she could try it on her friends.

At Slytherin's common room, Malfoy was sitting on the emerald green couch and stared at the unlit fireplace. He hadn't been talking since divination class ended and just continued making a piece of apple float in front of him. Pansy Parkinson, still coughing and sniffing due to the cold she caught, saw Draco sitting all alone in the couch.

"What's wrong with him?" croaked Pansy, looking at Crabbe and Goyle.

The two guys shrugged their shoulders and just watched Draco from the chairs they were sitting on.

"He's been like that since we finished class" Goyle explained.

"Maybe he just missed me since I didn't attend any of the class" Pansy said proudly.

Both Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other and didn't bother to comment on what she said. Pansy fixed herself and joined Draco on the couch.

"It's almost dinner, should we go to the great hall?" Pansy said with a grin, her voice still groggy because of her cold.

Draco noticed her for a minute and moved away a bit, not wanting to get her cold.

"Oh Pansy, you're there" said Draco and turned his attention back to the apple, "You go ahead, I'm not hungry"

"Aren't you going to tell me what's bothering you?" Pansy asked, admiring the handsome features of Draco from where she was sitting.

Draco sighed deeply and tapped his fingers against his lap, "Have you ever felt love at first sight?"

Pansy's eyes widened eagerly. Ever since she met Draco, she already fancied him and she thought maybe this was the time where he finally noticed her feelings for him. She giddily tucked her black hair behind her ears and kept on smiling.

"Are you telling me that you've fallen in love at first sight with someone?" asked Pansy once more, moving a bit closer to him.

"I'm not sure" admitted Draco, playing with the wand on his hand, "It's just that whenever I'm with her I feel like a completely different person. I feel happy and giddy around her. She makes my heart feel all nervous and stuff"

"That does sound like you fancy her"

"But what if there's something stopping you from liking that person?"

"If you do love that person, you'll take all the risk" and pansy moved another inch closer with her eyes closed and her lips pursed.

Draco nodded a bit. What Pansy said was right. He needed to take some risk if he did like that person. He looked at her direction and was confused as to why she had her lips pursed as if she was waiting for a kiss. He let the floating apple drop on his hand and handed it to her.

"Here, this would help you get rid of your cold" Draco said and quickly left the common room for the dorm.

Crabbe and Goyle laughed at one corner when they witnessed everything and Pansy angrily threw the apple at them which they luckily evaded.


	8. Chapter 8

"Cancelled?"

Stephanie was still half asleep the next morning while she was combing her hair with a wooden brush when Hermione told her that Potions class was cancelled for the day. She didn't even fix her uniform that her blouse was tucked out and not buttoned properly with her necktie loose. Hermione was sitting on her own bed, doing some reading while stroking her orange cat's head.

"Unfortunately, one of the students made a bad potion and it exploded" Hermione exploded, her eyes scanning every word in the book, "Don't worry, it's normal for that to happen. The staffs need to clean the classroom until it's safe to use it"

"Too bad, I was eager to get to that class" said Stephanie, letting out a loud yawn, "Will you be staying here all day?"

"I'll just finish reading this and then I'll be watching Ron and Harry's Quidditch practice. Want to come with me?"

"Oh, no thanks. I'll just go to the library. I need to give a book back" explained Stephanie, grabbing the book from her table.

She waved at her friend and made her way out of the Gryffindor house and walked around the big hallways of the castle. Now that it's been a week and three days since she entered Hogwarts, she was now getting quite familiar with the places and directions. She had also recognized some classmates of hers whom belonged in different houses and would greet them whenever they passed by each other. She turned a right at the next corner until she finally saw the entrance of the library. Since it was too early, there weren't that many students reading or borrowing books. Most of the people in there that time were professors, searching for stuff related to their lessons. Stephanie quietly walked around the big library and looked for the aisle where she got the book from. To her surprise she found Draco sitting on a chair at the aisle where she needed to go, scanning a book.

Draco lifted his head up when he finally realized that he wasn't alone. He placed the book back in the shelf and stood up, looking at the girl in front of him. Stephanie clutched the book against her chest, her heart racing at the sight of him. She didn't know what to say or do for it had been days since they last talked to each other. Now that he knew that she was half a muggle, she was expecting him to treat him differently. Waiting for him to do something like push her aside or insult her for having muggle blood. But to her surprise, he didn't do any of that.

"It was just my hunch that you'll be going here since Potions class got cancelled" he finally spoke and noticed the book she was holding, "So, you finished it already?"

"Oh, uh, y-yes. It was really interesting" Stephanie stammered with her words, keeping her gaze at the book she was holding.

"Are you here to borrow another book?"

"I-I'm not sure what to borrow next"

"Would it be alright if I recommend you another one?"

"Sure, go ahead"

And so, Draco looked through the shelves again for an interesting book. He pulled one out and handed it to her, grabbing the one she's holding and placed it back on the shelf.

"I'm pretty sure that would help you out"

Stephanie looked at the new book that was on her hands and read the title out loud, "Details on Magic: Its beginnings and present"

"It talks about the history of magic and how you'll survive in this world. I'm guessing that it could help a half…muggle like you"

Stephanie looked at him confused. She didn't understand why he was still being nice to her even though he knew what she really was. Even without asking, Draco could understand the look on Stephanie's face. He rubbed the back of his head and tried to explain himself.

"Let's just keep this between us, okay?" Draco told her, "Our friendship"

"I don't think you'll like to be friends with me" Stephanie mumbled although she liked the fact that Draco still wanted to be friends with her.

"Why is that?"

"Because of Harry"

"I knew it, you do fancy Potter" there was a hint of jealousy in Draco's voice and made a fist under his cloak.

"I do not fancy him" she said as confidently as the last time she said it to him, "I've been told that you despises him a lot. And, well, Harry and I are related. We're cousins"

For a moment, Draco fell quiet. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, an expression on his face that seemed like he was about to pass out or vomit. Stephanie was about to move closer to him when he suddenly looked at her with a serious expression, the same expression he had whenever he would see Harry.

"Are there more secrets about you that I should know?" Draco asked.

Stephanie shook her head, "N-no, that's that. I'm half muggle and Harry's cousin"

And all of a sudden, a familiar smile appeared on Draco's face. The same smile that he always flashed whenever Stephanie was around.

"I can make an exception just this once" said Draco, his smile widened.

"B-but why? Why are you so eager to make friends with me?" asked Stephanie, curious on what was about her that Draco would make an exception.

Draco himself didn't know how to answer and shrugged his shoulders.

"I just feel it" he explained, helping Stephanie with her loose necktie and buttoned the one on top, "It feels like fate brought us together"

Stephanie couldn't help but giggle hearing such cheesy lines from a guy that looked so tough. But it honestly made her blush and happy. She bit her lower lip at the process of suppressing her smile. Since their first class was cancelled, the both of them decided to spend their free hours in that same aisle. They both took a seat and Stephanie started flipping through the pages of the book recommended to her. Draco leaned on the table and quietly watched her read through the pages. He couldn't help but smile. He liked the way her green eyes sparkled in delight, how her pink lips curved into a smile, and how her long brown hair smelled of fresh strawberries. This was the very first time he felt like this towards a girl, especially a half muggle who's actually related to the person he hated the most. He stretched his hand out, gently moving a strand of hair that was getting on her face. Stephanie blushed at the simple gesture and looked at him with a shy smile.

"I missed talking to you" Draco confessed embarrassed.

Stephanie was surprised and looked at him amused, "Did you now?"

"It felt strange, not talking to you the past few days. I didn't like it. It made me…sad"

"I was sad too, not able to talk to you. It felt boring" Stephanie chuckled and flipped through the pages, "Your friends wouldn't like it that I'm friends with you when they found out"

Draco leaned back on his chair and smirked, "They can't do anything about it anyway"

"That girl loathes me, the one you're always with"

"You mean Pansy?"

"Yes. She doesn't want me being near you. I've read her mind and it's scary, the things she would want to do to me"

"Don't worry, I won't let her do anything bad to you" assured Draco, stroking her back gently.

Stephanie smiled and looked at her curiously, "What is it exactly that you like about me?"

Draco was surprised by the question; even Stephanie was surprised herself that she asked him that. But Draco's thoughts were just speaking out loud. For the first time, Stephanie saw him turn a shade of red. He tried avoiding her eyes but he kept finding himself looking at her. He leaned closer to make sure that only the two of them could hear what they were talking about.

"My mum once told me how she stumbled upon love" he whispered to her softly, "She said it was something unexpected. She wasn't look for love, it just found her by accident at that exact time and at that exact place. But when she looked at my father's eyes, there was a spark that grew between them. It was something she didn't experience with other people. She told me it felt like being under a love spell, only that this love was real and not from a spell. For some reason, I felt the same way when we met at the station. Personally, I would shout at someone if they bump me. But when my eyes met yours, I forgot about being angry and was just completely drawn to you"

Stephanie's face was completely red already. She had never heard a guy say such sweet words to him and it felt like a dream. She looked at him closely, trying to figure out if she was just dreaming or not. He was there, alright— warm and real, sitting beside her.

"I think all these are too good to be true" Stephanie admitted although she was pretty flattered that a handsome guy such as Draco liked her.

Draco knew she was going to say that and just smiled, "I know it looks that way but, you have to believe that it _is _all true. I never intended to share you any of that but then you just have to read my mind"

"I-I was just curious"

She returned back to the book she was reading and Draco looked at the books in front of him when he heard familiar voices. Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were checking aisle after aisle for Draco.

"I'm pretty sure I saw him go here earlier" Goyle whispered and tried to catch up with Pansy.

"Well where is he?" Pansy hissed, impatient that she hadn't seen him nowhere since he left the common room.

Draco was peeking from the aisle he was staying and could see his three friends getting nearer to where he was. He couldn't be seen by them hanging out with Stephanie and he had to find a way to hide. He looked at Stephanie, busy reading the book, and quickly grabbed her by the shoulders which startled him.

"I'm sorry for doing this" and before Stephanie could even ask what he was talking about, Draco moved closer and sealed her lips with a passionate kiss.

Pansy looked at the aisle on her left and found a couple busy snogging. She rolled her eyes and walked away once she thought that Draco wasn't in the library. It wasn't even his thing to go to the library for all she knew. As soon as they were gone, Draco pulled away and looked at Stephanie. His heart was beating too fast and his face turned scarlet red. Stephanie was as red as him, clutching her chest, and was still shocked with what just happened. It was the first time she was kissed and not just by any guy but, a guy she really fancied.

"I-I didn't mean to do that" Draco stammered, feeling like he blew it off for doing such a stupid thing, "I-it's just that Pansy and the others were here and looking for me…and they couldn't find out that I'm hanging out with you. Not that I don't like it b-but, you know—"

Stephanie didn't wait for him to finish whatever he was trying to say and leaned on him, kissing him as passionate as he did earlier. Draco was surprised but after a few seconds, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back.


	9. Chapter 9

Stephanie was running quickly up the stairs with the new book she borrowed. The people she passed by looked at her curiously as to why she was running like she was running late or someone was after her. Nevertheless, she kept on running and letting a soft breeze brush against her red cheeks. She didn't know where she was going but just trusted her feet. Her heart was beating loudly like a drum. Not because she's running but, because of what happened in the library. She could clearly picture it inside her head, the way she and Draco shared a sweet kiss in one of the aisles. Thinking about it made Stephanie blush harder. It was her first time to ever kiss someone and that someone happened to be a guy she liked. As she continued to run, she got startled when someone grabbed her from the corner. She caught her breath and found the twins, Fred and George, smiling at her.

"Why hello there, Primrose" Fred said with a grin, "Are you out for a jog?"

Stephanie wiped the beads of sweat that have formed on her forehead and replied with an exhausted tone, "It's Stephanie and no, I'm not out for a jog"

"Where you headed then?" the other one, George, asked.

"I…I don't know. I just felt like running around"

The twins looked at one another and sat down on a nearby bench, making the tired Stephanie sit between them.

"Since you're here, may we interest with you with the things we're selling?" George said and pulled out a small box from his pocket.

The small box tripled its size and it was filled with all sorts of things such as candies that could give you boils or chicken pox, love potions, and other toys. Stephanie looked at the stuff and wasn't sure if there was anything that fancied her. Just as she was about to decline, she saw a group of these fuzzy little colorful balls with eyes.

"What are these?" she asked curiously, taking a purple one on her hand and brushing her fingertips against its soft cotton candy like hair.

"Those are fuzzballs" explained Fred with a grin, "They're good as pets. Doesn't make a mess at all but, they can be crybabies when scared. If you like that, we'll give him to you for free"

"Really?" Stephanie smiled widely.

"Think of it as our welcoming gift for you" said George, ruffling the girl's hair roughly with his hand.

Stephanie laughed and moved an inch from George to fix her hair. She thanked them both, paying them with a kiss on their cheeks, and placed the purple fuzzball over her shoulder and ran along as if she was warming up for soccer practice. She was definitely happy because of Draco. She looked at her watch and noticed that she had more free time left. She slowed down from her running and looked around. She shyly walked up to a group of older Gryffindor students and asked them where Quidditch practice was held. The students were kind enough to give her the directions and she thanked them and went on her way. Hermione Granger gave her a bit of knowledge on what Quidditch would be like. _It's like Soccer but involves flying around in broomsticks_ was her specific words. Stephanie was quite far from the castle already, following a path in the middle of a field, when she finally saw some sort of field or arena with pillars. The symbol of each houses were printed everywhere ymbol of each houses were printed everywhere y saw went on her way. d the purple fuzzball over her shoulder and ran along.and her jaw slightly dropped when she found a few students flying around in broomsticks. She quickly entered the field and looked around the place. The ground was clear, except for the athletes and their broomsticks that were waiting for their turn to practice. They were wearing the red and gold uniform team for Gryffindor and Stephanie found Harry within the group along with Ron. To her excitement, she went up on one of the pillars to see how Quidditch really worked.

The wind was gentle when she reached the top and she was surprised to see such a wonderful view from where she was standing. But when she looked down, her eyes widened and her legs wobbled giving her the feeling of falling from a great height. She fell back on the bleachers, calming her nervous heart and the fuzzball on her shoulder rubbing its body against her cheek.

"Fear of heights?" a high sweet voice asked from somewhere.

Stephanie looked at the upper bleachers and found a blonde haired girl with radish earrings smiling at her. She was wearing a blue necktie with the emblem of Ravenclaw printed on her vest.

"Y-yes actually" said Stephanie, pulling out a clean white handkerchief with the initials D.M. on it from her pocket and wiped her sweat.

"You'll get used to it since Quidditch is a must watch game every year. You'll have no choice but to keep coming up here to watch their games. You could watch from below as well, if you fancy seeing tiny ants in the air"

Stephanie laughed softly because of what the girl said and decided to join her.

"I'm Primrose Wilson by the way" introduced Stephanie while stretching out her hand, "You can call me Stephanie"

"It's nice to meet you, Stephanie. I'm Luna Lovegood" replied the blonde girl and gently shook her hand.

"That's a very beautiful name, Luna"

"Thank you. I was named after the moon. My dad is into astronomy and other weird stuff. That's a lovely pet you got there"

Luna reached for the purple fuzzball and gently touched it that made it coo. Stephanie smiled and looked at the little creature on her shoulder.

"It is" replied Stephanie. "Do you often watch the Quidditch practice?"

"Not really. I usually come here to read or just look at the sky. It's very peaceful here. Oh look, Harry is going after the snitch"

Stephanie's gaze followed the fast movement of Harry and his broomstick. He was moving fast, like a hawk eyeing its prey, and reached for the golden snitch that was in front of him. The few patrons watching the practice clapped, as it was the best time Harry got. Hopefully he would be as fast during the real game. Harry flew down and a group of new Quidditch players came. They were wearing green and silver, the color of the house of Slytherin. From where she was sitting, Stephanie couldn't see the faces of the players. All she could see were the figures of the Gryffindor players leaving the place and the Slytherin players getting ready. Some of them dashed into the air with their broomsticks while the others stayed on the ground to warm up.

"Are you looking for anyone in particular?" asked Luna, noticing the look on Stephanie's eyes as she looked at the players carefully.

Stephanie stuttered a bit and played with her hair, "I, uh, I was just wondering if a friend of mine is in the team"

"What's your friend's name?"

Before Stephanie could even tell her the name, a blonde haired guy flew close to them as he caught the snitch neatly within a minute. Draco smiled at the golden snitch in his hand, confident that he would definitely beat Harry in the upcoming Quidditch match. He looked at the bleachers when he finally realized that it wasn't empty. He saw Luna and Stephanie looking at her. His smile widened when the girl he kissed earlier smiled back at him. Memories of them together in the library hours ago flashbacked in his mind, hoping he could give her another kiss.

"H-hi" Draco stuttered, the smile painted permanently on his face with his blue eyes fixed on the brown haired girl.

Stephanie bit her lower lip as she smiled, waving at him shyly, "H-hi Draco"

"Will you be watching our game this Friday?"

"I would love to watch"

"Cool, I'll go ahead and continue practice. See you around" Draco waved at her with the snitch in his hand and flew around the area coolly.

"I guess you found him" Luna smiled and looked at her new friend whose cheeks were rosy.

Stephanie just smiled, "I guess I did"

When the Quidditch practice was over, Luna and Stephanie decided to go to the great hall together to have supper. The tables were crowded with noisy students, eating and talking about the things that have happened to them the past few days in Hogwarts. Luna and Stephanie parted ways and went to each of their house's table. Stephanie joined Harry who was very delighted to see her.

"Hey Stephanie, what did you with your free period?" he asked curiously as he ate.

Stephanie was slicing a piece of her chicken when she tried to recall the things she had done. She involuntarily smiled remembering the event in the library and giggled.

"Went to the library and watched the Quidditch practice" was all she said, taking a bite on her roasted chicken.

"You watched the practice? Did you see me?"

"I did. You were pretty amazing"

"Would you like to try out for Quidditch next year?"

Stephanie politely refused and covered her mouth as she laughed, "That would be the end of me, Harry"

They continued to talk, with some Gryffindor male students trying to make friends with Stephanie, when someone shouted that the mail was coming. The loud hoots of the owls echoed through the great hall as owls of different sizes and colors flew around holding packages and letters for their owners. Each of them dropped the letters to the owners and gently flew away from the room after doing their task. Stephanie was eagerly looking up at the group of flying owls when she finally spotted Stardust. The sandy brown owl flew over her and dropped a letter which she successfully caught. She looked at it excitedly and saw that it was a letter from her dad. She opened and slowly read it inside her head. He was asking her how she was and that he missed her, stuff a father would tell his daughter. He also said that he was staying at the Dursleys for a month since a pipe broke in the bathroom. A consent letter was also attached to the letter just in case she wanted to go to Hogsmeade during the weekend which her father had really no idea what it could be.

"What's Hogsmeade?" asked Stephanie, folding the letter and putting it back inside the envelope.

"That's the place where the train dropped us" one of the guys said.

"There's a lot of shops there you'd definitely want to go to" said the other, "There's this tea shop where couples usually go to. Maybe you'd like to come with me"

Harry then placed an arm in front of Stephanie, keeping the other guys away from his cousin like any protective brother would do.

"If any of you would like to be friends with her, you have to go through me" said Harry proudly and in an instant, almost all guys wanted to make friends with him.

Stephanie laughed and continued to eat quietly. In a matter of few days, Stephanie was already popular amongst the guys. But it didn't quite matter for a certain guy had already took her interest.


	10. Chapter 10

*Thank you for having time to read my story! I know it's not that good but hopefully you guys appreciate it xD anyway, reviews are highly appreciated as well owo

The weekend arrived with third year students and older excitedly waited at the courtyard. They weren't wearing their uniforms since they were allowed to wear whatever clothes they liked on their trip to Hogsmeade. Professor McGonagall was at the center of the courtyard with the students handing them their consent letters. The guys from Gryffindor, actually from other houses as well, were all looking at Stephanie's direction. The new student was with her cousin, Ron, and Hermione looking lovely in a green ruffled dress with black stockings underneath and a pair of green ballet flats. She even added a few curls on her hair and wore a black headband to separate her bangs from the rest of her hair. The guys couldn't keep their eyes away from her and Harry was being too protective again.

"Wow, you got yourself a lot of suitors in a matter of what, a week?" Hermione teased her with a grin.

Stephanie smiled shyly and felt awkward hearing that she had suitors. Back in London, no guy ever liked her and she always ended up having a crush on the guys who already got a girl. It was definitely different, her life in London and in the world of magic. After getting all of the students' consent letters, professor McGonagall had already gave them permission to leave. The students all excitedly left the vicinity of the school and took the path that led them to the magical village of Hogsmeade. The teenagers divided into the groups as they went to Hogsmeade. Some of them went to Zonko's, some at the Three Broomstick's inn, and some were looking at the Shrieking Shack.

Hermione was about to join Ron and Harry inside the Three Broomsticks' when she saw Stephanie standing in the middle of the street like a lost child looking at everything. She couldn't blame her. Everything she was seeing was amazing for her.

"Would you like to look around for a bit?" asked Hermione.

Stephanie looked at her friend and smiled, "Yes, I would like to"

"Go ahead then. Just come in here when you're done. You don't want Harry to worry about you"

"I'll be fine, see you later"

Hermione then went inside the pub already while Stephanie wandered around the streets watching the older witches and wizards she passed by. She also looked at the different stores and found some of her classmates buying candies from a shop called Honeydukes.

"How come a beautiful lady such as you is alone in this place?"

Stephanie recognized the voice and quickly turned around to see Draco, all alone, wearing a formal black suit. She smiled widely and walked up to him.

"I just wanted to go look around" said Stephanie with a smile, "Is it alright that you're talking to me out here in public?"

Draco looked around to see if anybody was looking at them. When he noticed that no one was paying any attention to them, he gently held Stephanie's warm hand and started to walk. He didn't say a word but just led her the way to a small shop. The little bell on top of the door chimed as Draco pulled it open and Stephanie went in. She looked around the place and felt relaxed. It felt warmer inside the shop compared to the chilly atmosphere outside. The place was dimly lighted with small lanterns and each table had a small cup at the center with a tulip in it. The air smelled of fresh cinnamon and mint and she could hear the spoons clanging against the porcelain teacups. Only a few patrons were inside Madame Pudifoot's teashop, mostly old witches and wizards. The small table by the corner was vacant and Draco gently pulled the chair for Stephanie.

"O-oh, thank you" she said shyly and sat down.

Draco smiled and sat on the chair across her with his hands clasped on top of the wooden table. They were both quiet for a while until a small middle aged witch walked up to their table.

"What would you lovely couple want to have?" she said sweetly.

"Two peppermint teas" replied Draco since he knew very well that it was Stephanie's first time in the shop.

"Very well, I'll get your teas ready"

"Thank you very much" Stephanie said politely and watched the lady leave.

She looked back at Draco and found him still smiling at her. She smiled back at him and clasped her hands as well on top of the table and crossed her legs.

"You're upset, aren't you? About the game yesterday" Stephanie pointed out.

The Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor happened yesterday. The score was a close match but Gryffindor ended up getting the higher score when Harry got the snitch. Draco let out a deep sigh and reached for Stephanie's soft hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"It's a lame game anyway" Draco mumbled, continuing to stroke her hand.

"I think you were really good though" Stephanie said sincerely with a warm smile, "There's always a next time"

Draco smiled at her sweetly and pulled her hand closer, kissing it gently like a true gentleman. Minutes later, a tray flew towards them with two cups of warm peppermint teas and a plate of complimentary cookies. Stephanie watched in awe as the cups and plate of cookies carefully went down on their table.

"How many sugars would you like for you tea?" Draco asked, amused with Stephanie's reaction at the moving objects.

"Oh, uh, two please" Stephanie said.

Carefully, two blocks of sugars flew and landed in her cup of tea and the teaspoon started to stir on its own. Stephanie couldn't help herself but to laugh, like an innocent child who saw the disappearing coin trick for the very first time.

"I do like it here, with all the magic and stuff" admitted Stephanie happily, watching the teaspoon stir her hot tea continuously, "I feel like I belong here more than I belong in the muggle world"

Draco smiled, "It's because you're half a witch. You do belong in this world"

"By the way, why are you alone today?"

"I ditched them while they weren't looking. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't look inside this shop"

"Why did you ditch them?"

"No particular reason" he said with a playful smile, though he knew that Stephanie could read his mind, "By the way, you look very pretty"

"Thank you, I do my best to look nice"

"Well, you've done an excellent job and I'm not sure if I like it"

Stephanie pouted a bit and took her cup of tea, "And why is that?"

"A lot of guys from our house has been talking about you" explained Draco, carefully blowing his hot tea before taking a sip, "Not just in Slytherin but a lot of guys fancy you"

Complete jealousy filled Draco's thoughts and Stephanie couldn't help but smile. After taking a sip of her tea, she took a piece of cookie and nibbled on it.

"Does it bother you?" asked Stephanie curiously.

Draco leaned on the table and wiped off the crumbs on her soft lip as he honestly replied, "Very much"

"You have nothing to worry about" she assured him with a sweet smile, "I do like someone though"

"Oh really? Who might this guy be?"

"Hmm, he's a wonderful person" Stephanie giggled and enjoyed the way Draco was playing along with her, "He's smart, sweet, and completely amazing. And we actually snogged"

Draco grinned and leaned forward eagerly, "Oh by all means, do continue. I would like to know more about this guy"

While the both of them were chatting comfortably inside the teashop, Harry walked out of the Three Broomstick's pub, wiping off traces of butterbear on his lips, and looked around searchingly. He looked at every corner of the street followed by Ron and Hermione.

"Where did you leave her exactly?" harry asked, peeking inside Honeydukes and walking toward the next shop.

"I told you, just in front of the three broomsticks" Hermione said for the nth time now, sighing as she followed her friends, "Stephanie isn't a child, Harry. She can look after herself"

"Hermione is right. I think you're just overreacting, mate, with all the butterbeer you've drank" added Ron who exchanged looks with Hermione.

Harry stopped just outside Madame Pudifoot's teashop and sighed while looking at the both of them, "I know that she isn't a kid. I just want to know if she's doing alright. I mean, it's her first time here in Hogsmeade. What if she gets in trouble?"

"Hogsmeade is completely a safe place for students, harry. You don't have to worry and act like a father" Hermione teased.

Ron laughed in one corner and watched his friends argue when something caught his attention. He stopped laughing and his eyes widened in shock.

"Is that your cousin with Draco over there?" Ron asked with his gaze fixed at the teashop.

Harry and Hermione stopped bickering and followed Ron's gaze. They sneakily moved closer to one of the windows and peeked inside. Amongst the other customers were in fact Stephanie and Draco. They were sitting in the corner away from the window but not completely hidden from other people. The three curious teenager looked closely and could see them both laughing and smiling at each other.

"Bloody hell, Draco knows how to laugh" Ron whispered, "And are they holding hands?"

They were definitely holding their hands with fingers intertwined like any couple would do. Hermione then gasped when Draco leaned forward and kissed Stephanie. Stephanie didn't seem to be troubled at all and in fact, she kissed him back. Harry stood up from where they were peeking and wasn't sure on how to react.

"Great, they're snogging" was all he could say.

"What are you going to do about it?" Ron asked while he continued to watch them snog.

"I'm going to kill him"

Before he could even take another step, Hermione grabbed Harry and made him crouch down again.

"Have you gone mad?" Hermione asked hoarsely, looking inside the window again.

"She's the mad one for snogging Malfoy. What does she see in him anyway?"

"Well, he does seem like a completely different person when your cousin is around"

They couldn't see any trace of the jerk inside that teashop, the guy who called muggles as mudblood and the one who looked down on other witches or wizard just because his family was very well known. The Draco they were seeing inside was a completely different one—gentle, sweet, and a romantic one. If Hermione didn't know what kind of person he was, she would completely fall for him.

"Quick, they're coming out!" Hermione said and quickly hid behind a small bush at the small garden in front of the teashop along with Ron and Harry.

The little bell chimed again as the door opened and Stephanie came out followed by Draco. Harry parted a small area of the bush to take a peek and could see them standing by the porch. The wind was chilly and Stephanie shivered and quickly rubbed her arms.

"It's really cold out here" she pointed out and saw her own breath as she spoke.

Draco started taking off his black suit and carefully placed it over her shoulders to keep her warm.

"There, that'll make you warm" replied Draco with a grin and kissed her cheek.

Stephanie blushed and clutched onto the suit making sure it wouldn't fall off, "Thank you for this and for the tea. I really enjoyed it"

"We should do it again, yes?"

"Oh definitely next time again"

"Should we head back to Hogwarts together?"

"Oh, hmm, I was supposed to be with Harry and some other friends at the Three Broomsticks"

Draco looked at his watch and noticed it was almost curfew, "Well, it's almost five thirty. I doubt that they're still there. Granger wouldn't want to be back in Hogwarts one minute late"

"You're right, she wouldn't want that" Stephanie laughed softly, "Well, let's go to Hogwarts together then"

Much to his delight, Draco offered his arm to her and Stephanie linked her own arm with his and started to walk. They laughed and started a small conversation while they walk back to the castle. The three came out from their hiding place and watched them walk away.

"That is really something" was all they could say.


	11. Chapter 11

Stephanie was trying her best to concentrate on her Charms seatwork when she could definitely feel three pairs of eyes staring at her. While Professor Flitwick was busy helping out some students, Stephanie placed her pen down and shot Harry and his two best friends an annoyed look.

"It is very rude and creepy to stare at someone" said Stephanie in annoyance and suddenly heard their thoughts.

Everyone turned to her direction when she gasped loudly with a surprised look. She laughed awkwardly to let professor Flitwick and the others know that she was fine then grabbed her pen and pretended to be writing something. Truthfully, she wasn't fine. Her face turned crimson red when she found out that Harry saw her at the teashop with Draco during the weekend they went to Hogsmeade.

"That's why you've been disappearing suddenly, right?" Harry whispered to her and demanded answers and explanations, "You've been hanging out with Malfoy"

"Will you keep it down?" replied Stephanie with a hoarse voice, gripping onto her quill really tight, "So what if I'm spending time with him? We're just friends"

"Friends do not kiss each other that way and I already told you what he's like"

"I know I know he's mean to you and other students. He's arrogant, a brat, and mainly a bully—"

"Well, it looks like she knows how evil her boyfriend is" Ron butted in with a grin.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and glared at them, "He's not my boyfriend. We're just friends"

"For now"

"As I was saying, yes he is a bully but he isn't like that around me. When he's around me, he's always sweet. He would say nice things to me and makes me laugh or smile"

Stephanie didn't realize that she was smiling just by talking about Draco.

"She's completely love struck" Hermione pointed out, amused.

"Well, if you're going to be spending time with that bloke might as well not talk to me" Harry bitterly said and closed his notebook, standing up and leaving them all without looking back.

Stephanie wanted to run after her cousin but it was too late, he was already out of sight. She sat on her seat, upset, with Hermione rubbing her back to comfort her.

"Don't worry about him, he'll eventually get over it" she assured her.

"Are you mad at me as well, that I'm friends with Draco?" Stephanie asked her curiously especially that she had read her mind several times. Draco wasn't really nice to her at all.

"Hmm, I'm not mad" explained Hermione and tried to finish her work fast so she could look for Harry, "I don't like Draco as well. But I've witnessed the two of you in that teashop and well, he was different around you"

"We thought he was a different person" butted Ron and looked at Draco's direction, unable to believe that he saw his soft side.

"As long as you're happy and he's nice to you, then we're fine with it. We'll talk to Harry about it"

"Thanks, you two. I really appreciate it" Stephanie said sincerely and smiled.

Hermione finally finished her seatwork and handed her notebook to professor Flitwick and ran outside to look for Harry and have a talk. Stephanie and Ron were still inside with the other students, getting their work done. Stephanie looked at the other side of the room where Draco was sitting with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy and saw that he was looking at her the whole time. He smiled softly but it showed on his face that he was worried or concerned. He was wondering if Harry said something bad to her that made her so upset. She just smiled a sweet smile to let him know that everything was alright.

The class was dismissed and students were all exhausted with the seatwork. Some of them were comparing answers on the way out and some were talking about what the menu would be for lunch. Stephanie grabbed her stuff from the table and walked out of the classroom alone to get back to the Gryffindor house. As she was about to go up the stairs, Stephanie heard someone call her. She looked around, seen students go here and there, and didn't recognize any of them.

"Psst, Stephanie!" the hoarse whispery voice grew louder when Stephanie took another step up the stairs.

She looked around curiously for who it was and finally saw a figure hiding behind the statue of a knight. She quickly walked towards it and didn't notice it was Draco for he was wearing the hood of his cloak over his head to be not recognized by anyone. Draco quickly grabbed her hand and walked the other way with students looking at them suspiciously. Well, most of them were wondering who the person under the hood was. They walked briskly and reached an empty corridor with vacant benches everywhere. Draco pulled her along to the bench on the corner and sat down with her.

"Aren't your friends becoming suspicious with your sneaking around?" Stephanie laughed, seeing the blue eyes sparkled under the black hood.

Draco smirked and pulled the hood down then ruffled his blonde hair, "They are, actually. Always asking where I'm going and why they can't come. Pansy's been bugging me a lot too"

"I'm sure she does" especially that Stephanie knew Pansy's feelings for him.

"Are you okay, by the way?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Draco tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear and cupped her chin, "During charms class, Potter didn't seem to be in a good mood"

"Ah yeah, well, he is pretty mad at me. I can tell"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Hmm, he might've seen us together in Madam Pudifoot's teashop during the weekend, snogging"

"And it bothered him a lot?" a content smile appeared on his face.

Stephanie chuckled and playfully hit his arm, "You're not supposed to be happy"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it" he grinned and took her hand, "Okay, continue"

"I told him he needs to relax since we're just friends and then he said that if I would be hanging out with you, I might as well not talk to him"

"Really?"

"Yes, really, I've never seen him so annoyed"

"How can you say we're just friends?"

Obviously the both of them were upset about two different things. Stephanie was quite surprised that Draco seemed to be disappointed about it, although the smile on his face never faded.

"W-well, isn't that what we are?" Stephanie uttered.

Draco shook his head in disbelief and chuckled, "I would've preferred more if you told him something like_ so what if he's my boyfriend? _That would've been better"

"Isn't it too early for that? It's only been a month and—"

"—we snogged"

Stephanie turned red and laughed, realizing that they've snogged more than once even if she kept saying that they were just friends.

"But still" Stephanie continued, "I still think it's too early to be in that kind of relationship. There are still too many things we don't know about each other and, well, Harry"

"Alright, what about this. Let's get to know each other more as the months pass by and at the right time, you agree to be my girlfriend. And I'll keep my distance from Potter and his friends. I wouldn't start any fight or anything. Is that fair enough?"

"Sounds good to me"

Draco leaned towards her with a grin, looking at her beautiful soft pink lips which he kissed more than twice already. He was ready to kiss her when Professor McGonagall appeared out of nowhere and stopped on her tracks, surprised, when she saw the two. Quickly Stephanie and Draco moved away from each other and got on their feet to greet their professor, embarrassed. For McGonagall, she was already used to seeing young wizards and witches snogging in the hallways but she didn't expect to see Draco. The two young students excused themselves from their professor and ran along the corridor, laughing, to have lunch at the great hall.

The menu that day was as good as any other day. Platters of roasted beef and chicken, freshly baked croissants, mashed potatoes, and layers upon layers of chocolate fudge cake. The students ate to their heart's content after an exhausting day of studying. Stephanie and Draco parted ways at the entrance of the great hall and went to their own tables. Stephanie walked towards the Gryffindor table and didn't see Harry, Hermione, or Ron anywhere.

"Oh hey Neville, have you seen Harry?" Stephanie asked the tall boy that passed by her.

Neville thought really hard if he had seen him and flashed a bright smile as he nodded, "I think I saw him go to Hagrid's hut earlier."

"Hagrid's? Well, thank you for the information"

She sat down on the long bench, placed her books on the table, and started to eat alone. She looked around and found the guys looking at her with these love struck smiles and shyly waved at her. It somehow made her uncomfortable and awkward but she tried to be nice and waved back.


	12. Chapter 12

Draco was walking with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy to the dungeons where the Slytherin house was when he found Harry coming back from Hagrid's hut. He wanted to approach him but at the same time didn't want to. It was Harry, for God's sake! The last person in the world he would ever want to talk to. Or if he did communicate with him, it was to insult or make fun of him. He saw Harry walking farther and farther at the end of the hallway and thought he might never had the courage again to approach him. He clenched his teeth and could feel that he would regret whatever he was about to do. He told his companions to go ahead while he was going to check something out. He quickly ran after Harry and didn't bother to answer Pansy's question.

Harry continued to walk along the hallway and could hear someone running after him and calling out his name. Without stopping, he turned around to see it was Draco. He continued to walk with an annoyed look, faster than earlier, trying to get away from the person he least wanted to see.

"Potter!" shouted Draco and finally caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

Harry pushed his hand away and turned to him with an irritated look, "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Don't think I want to talk to you, Potter, but I have to"

"What is it that you possibly have to talk about with me?"

"It's about Stephanie"

The two guys left for someplace more private when they realized they were attracting many spectators. They found an empty lavatory on the second floor and hurried inside before anyone spotted them. Harry checked every cubicle before speaking and when everything was clear, he charged towards Draco and angrily grabbed him by the collar with both hands.

"Did you hurt her?!" Harry boomed, clenching his teeth and looked at the person he hated the most.

Draco pushed Harry away, irritated, and fixed his uniform.

"I didn't, you dimwit!" Draco snapped.

Harry calmed himself down and leaned back on the sink, taking a deep breath. It was like reflex that he got overprotective at the mention of his cousin's name. Stephanie and his dad were the only people he considered family even though the Dursleys were there. He hated them too, as much as he hated the Malfoys and Voldemort. Draco relaxed as well and kept on looking around. He just couldn't find himself looking at Harry in the eye. He took a minute or two before finally speaking and telling Harry whatever it is he needed to say.

"I like her" Draco mumbled almost to himself, "Your cousin"

Although his voice was too soft, Harry heard him clearly. Maybe because it was only the two of them in the quiet lavatory.

"Yeah, I've seen you snogging her" Harry replied bitterly, feeling like he wanted to puke inside his mouth as he recalled that day in Hogsmeade, "But I don't want to believe what I saw. For all I know, you could just be using her"

"Use her for what? To stalk you?" Draco scoffed and folded his arms, "Mind you Potter, I don't need to stalk you because I don't need anything from you. And if you haven't noticed, I'm doing pretty well on my own insulting you even before your cousin came"

"Alright then, why her? Of all the girls here in Hogwarts, why is it that you're so interested in her? It is very unlikely of you especially that she's related to me and half muggle"

Draco fell quiet for a moment and had this soft expression on his face, the kind he had whenever Stephanie was around. He imagined her face inside his head—her soft brown hair that smelled of strawberries, her soft pink lips he adored, and her sparkling green eyes—and his lips curved into a soft smile. He, too, had a hard time explaining it. He never felt the way he was feeling right now with any other girl before.

"Love at first sight?" he said, leaning back against the tiled walls of the lavatory unsure if those were the right words, "I know you think it's stupid, I think it's a stupid reason as well. But, I can't find any other explanation for it. When I first saw her on the train station, I had this nervous feeling. I felt my cheeks get warm. She looked so pretty although her lip was covered in blood. When I found out she was a student here as well, I was thrilled. I wanted to be around her, know the things she liked, she hated, everything. And then I found out she was related to you, I hated it. I got disappointed that of all people, the girl I like is related to you"

For some reason, the last part made Harry chuckle. Draco looked at him and for the very first time, chuckled with him as well, as if they were close friends.

"But I'm pretty determined" Draco continued, looking away from him and scratched his arm. He felt embarrassed that as a Malfoy, he was showing his soft side to Harry. "Even if she's half a muggle and related to you, I'll make an exception. That's how much I like her. And don't get mad at her just because she's hanging around me. She's quite upset that you're mad and…I was hoping you won't hate her just because of me. Our hatred for each other doesn't have anything to do with her"

The room fell quiet. Draco felt his chest loosen up after finally letting out the things he wanted to say. Harry was just standing there in awe, staring at the Slytherin boy whom he'd known for three years and never liked. He was completely amazed with everything he heard. It was like a different Draco Malfoy was in front of him. The way he softened at the mention of Stephanie and the first time they ever met. As much as he hated to admit it, Harry felt the sincerity and the love in Draco's words.

"Well" Harry spoke, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "That convinced me. You do seem to like Stephanie a lot. Alright, I'm allowing you to be around her. It's fine if the both of you hang out. But I'm warning you, I won't hesitate in punching you if you make her cry"

Draco stood up straight and grinned, "I'll make sure that won't happen, Potter. And oh, don't expect us to be friends after this talk"

"I wasn't expecting to" Harry smirked.

Now that everything was settled, they both quietly headed out of the lavatory and were surprised to see a lot of students waiting outside with curious looks. Draco and Harry exchanged looks for merely a second and walked in different directions, leaving the groups of students buzzing and gossiping.

That evening, Stephanie was wrapped around with a blanket in her pink striped pajamas while sitting quietly on the common room's couch staring at the flames in the fireplace. George and Fred were on the other side of the room, telling some of the students the prank they used on Filch which made them laugh. As much as the other students were having a good evening, Stephanie remained quiet and alone on the couch and stared at the orange flames. She hadn't seen Harry ever since he walked away from her during Charms class. Just then, she heard Fred greet Harry and invited him to listen to their story. Stephanie quickly lifted her head up to see Harry came in through the door. He politely rejected the Weasleys offer and saw his cousin looking at him.

The Weasleys continued the story they were telling while Harry walked towards Stephanie and joined her on the couch. They smiled at each other awkwardly and then watched the flames in the fireplace together.

"It's quite chilly tonight, isn't it?" Harry pointed out, rubbing his hands together to feel warm.

"It is" replied Stephanie and offered to share the blanket she was using. Harry moved closer to her and fixed the soft warm blanket over his shoulder and felt comfortable. "Where have you been? I didn't see you the whole afternoon"

"I paid Hagrid a visit and then I had a conversation with Malfoy" said Harry truthfully, rubbing his tired eyes under his glasses.

Stephanie was surprised and kept her voice down, "You were with Draco?"

"As much as I didn't like it, he wouldn't leave until he was able to talk to me"

"W-well, what did you talk about? You two didn't fight, right?"

"Surprisingly, no we didn't. He came to talk to me about you"

"Me? Why me?"

"He really likes you" Harry told her sincerely, finally accepting the fact even though it was still a bit hard for him to appreciate, "And I understand it now. I'm not hundred percent okay with it but, he was pretty honest. What he said earlier, as much as I hate it, was right. Our hatred towards each other doesn't have anything to do with you. Yes, we don't like each other but that doesn't mean you can't be friends with him. I'm not going to interfere with what you two have and that's a promise"

A bright smile appeared on Stephanie's face and her eyes sparkled even more with the flames, "Does it mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"I can't possibly stay mad at you, you're like my sister"

Stephanie kept on smiling and rested her head on his shoulder while hugging his arm real tight.

"I'm glad to hear that" Stephanie chuckled and continued to watch the flames as it slowly gets smaller.

Harry kissed the top of her head gently and felt relaxed, "Make sure to tell me if he ever hurts you"

"You'll definitely be the first one to know" and then she heard his thoughts and slapped his arm, "Hey! Don't wish for him to do something horrible just so you can punch him"

"You should stop doing that, listening to other people's thoughts"

"Well, keep it down inside your head"

The both of them laughed and talked about random stuff about classes, love life, and other interesting stuff until they fell asleep on the couch.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hey guys! Hopefully my story has some sense OTL thank you to those who are reading it. Comments are really appreciated :'D

The students were playing around in the room while Snape wasn't around yet for his class. Some were making flying cranes, some were talking about the latest gossip in Hogwarts, and some were just sleeping. Draco and his gang just arrived in the room with Pansy giggling and telling him stuff which he didn't find as interesting at all. Pansy loved Defence against the Dark Arts class. Not because it was her favorite subject but, because she got to sit beside the guy she had a crush on. They were heading to their seats when Pansy stopped and found Stephanie sitting on her place which annoyed her. She never liked her ever since the time she saw her bumped into Draco at the platform. She marched towards her and quickly tapped his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, giving her a scrutinizing look.

"That's _my_ seat"said Pansy, emphasizing the ownership of the seat beside Draco's.

Stephanie looked at her surprised and quickly stood up and grabbed her stuff, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"Well now you know" replied Pansy with a fake smile on her face and her thoughts filled of insults and curses.

Pansy was about to sit on _her_ chair when Draco grabbed Stephanie's stuff and placed it back down on the table. She was startled and gave Draco a confused look.

"Technically, this is now her seat" defended Draco as he casually sat on his chair.

"But I've always sat here beside you" Pansy argued while Stephanie quietly stood beside her without knowing what to say or do.

Pansy's voice was rather loud and caught the other students' attention and they were now watching the commotion. She was completely outraged just because of a seat and kept telling him that it was her place while Draco repeatedly stated that Snape changed the arrangement last week when she wasn't around. Stephanie just stood there anxious, watching Draco and Pansy argue over who sits where. She felt rather scared and nervous as she can hear the thoughts of the angry girl beside her. It was full of hatred towards her, reminded her of the bullies she had to face in her muggle school. The other students, on the other hand, thought Pansy was going crazy just because of a seat and decided to continue to what they were doing.

Draco was starting to get annoyed with Pansy's hard headedness and told her his final say on who gets to sit on the chair beside him and he picked Stephanie. He couldn't directly tell her that he wanted Stephanie to be beside him but, he used Snape as an excuse. It was true though, that it was Snape's idea to change the seating arrangements. Knowing that she couldn't argue back after Draco's final say, Pansy eventually lost and felt something heavy on her chest. She shot Stephanie a cold angry look that could almost burn a hole on her face. Stephanie swallowed hard and cringed.

"I-I'm sorry for taking your seat" Stephanie apologized in the nicest way, "W-we could change if—"

Everybody gasped when they saw Pansy angrily swung her hand across Stephanie's cheek and made a loud smack. Harry, who was watching from the first row, stood up outraged from what he saw and was about to confront the Slytherin girl if only Ron and Hermione hadn't stopped him. Draco stood up from his seat as well, outraged as he saw it happen inches away from him. Stephanie just stood there quietly, her eyes wide in shock, and touched her burning red left cheek where she got slapped.

"What is all this commotion?" Snape finally came in, looking at his students coldly.

Everybody went back to their seats while Snape walked towards Draco, Stephanie and Pansy. The three students were quiet as Snape looked at each one of them and noticed the red hand mark on Stephanie's cheek.

"Would anyone be so kind as to tell me what happened to Ms. Wilson's face?" he asked the class, his eyes slowly moving around from Stephanie to Pansy.

Too scared of Snape, no one dared to speak but Harry. He stood up to defend his cousin and told him what he saw.

"Pansy Parkinson hit her" said Harry, clenching his teeth in anger.

Snape stared at Harry for a moment and didn't seem to be satisfied. He never really favored anything that Harry said even if he did say something right.

"Can anybody else defend what Mr. Potter just said?" Snape asked again.

Students looked at each other, debating whether or not they should raise their hand or keep quiet. Pansy smiled to herself when she saw nobody raised a hand which pretty much meant that Snape wouldn't listen to Harry's word. But all of a sudden, Draco slowly raised his hand.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Pansy whispered with a hoarse voice, shocked of what he just did.

"It's true, sir" Draco said, ignoring Pansy and just looked at their professor, "Pansy did slap Stephanie when I told her you changed the seating arrangements when she failed to come to class"

Snape looked at Draco surprised, although it didn't show on his face, that he actually defended Harry. His gaze then moved towards Pansy, who kept her head down in embarrassment.

"What a petty reason for hitting someone" Snape mocked and walked to the front and dismissed whatever had happened, "Ms. Parkinson, you may go to detention now while everyone else take your books out and turn to page two hundred sixty two"

Pansy shot Stephanie another angry look before walking out of the class while Draco and Stephanie silently sat down. The room echoed with the crisp sound of flipping pages and Snape began to continue the topic they had the last time. Draco pretended to listen but once in a while would take quick glances at Stephanie's direction. She was quiet and her eyes were a bit cloudy as if she was refraining herself from crying. Stephanie's heart was beating rapidly, shocked with what just happened. She could feel the burning sensation on her cheek as if Pansy's hand was still there. She had encountered bullies before but, it was the first time that someone hit her and it felt awful.

She looked down on the table when she saw Draco passed her a note quietly. She made sure Snape wasn't looking at their direction when she read the note. The words were elegantly written in cursive with black ink.

_Does it hurt a lot? Are you alright?_

Stephanie looked at him and saw how worried and hurt he was for her. It did hurt but, seeing how much Draco cared for her made her forget about the stinging pain. She secretly held his hand under the table and smiled sweetly to let him know that she was alright.Draco intertwined his fingers with hers and pulled the piece of paper and wrote on it again with his free hand. Once he was finished, he passed it back to her again.

_I feel disappointed in myself. I wasn't able to protect you from being hit. I'll make sure that I would have a talk with Parkinson later._

Stephanie took her quill and quietly wrote on the paper while listening to Snape's lecture. She had put her quill away and slipped the note towards Draco.

_Don't be disappointed, you didn't know she was going to do that. She really hates me. She thinks I'm stealing you away from her._

Draco smirked and replied.

_Steal me? How can you steal me when I wasn't hers in the first place? _

Stephanie nodded quietly and wrote back.

_Well, she would forever hate me from now on. _

Stephanie quickly hid the note under the table as Snape walked down the aisle and hit Ron on the head for not listening. When he turned around, Draco took the note from her to reply.

_Just ignore her from now on. I will make sure too that she won't ever hurt you again, unless she wants to see me get really angry. I still wish I could've done something to protect you. Maybe a kiss could help it?_

Stephanie suppressed a smile and looked at him, seeing him wink and grin at her. She took her quill again to give him a quick reply.

_I'm pretty sure that would help me a lot, Draco. Thank you._

And throughout the entire lecture, the both of them were passing secret notes to each other. Draco even started to draw funny images of their professors and they both laughed softly. Snape was going on and on about the habitats of vampires when he heard faint laughter from behind his back. He sighed a bit as he spoke, irritated whenever somebody wasn't paying attention to his class. He was pretty sure the laughter came from Harry and Ron, turning to them to find out that they were listening to him. The faint laughter came from the very back and both Draco and Stephanie fell silent when they saw Snape looking at them quite surprised.

"Sorry" Draco mumbled, keeping his head down and tried not to laugh anymore and Stephanie did the same.

Snape wasn't entirely sure what was going on and still hit Ron on the head with the notebook he was holding.

"My hand slipped" Snape explained as soon as he saw the confused look on Ron's face who started to rub his head while the other students snickered.


	14. Chapter 14

"Ow, it hurts!"

Stephanie hissed as Hermione pressed the handkerchief with ice against her red cheek. They were staying just outside the infirmary after Snape's class and Harry kept on walking back and forth, angry with what Pansy Parkinson did. He wanted to hit her so much although he can't because she's a girl. Stephanie took the handkerchief from Hermione and mended her sore cheek on her own. It was painful like thousands of needles were piercing through her cheek but, she tried not to mind it and hoped that the red mark would disappear fast. She looked up at her cousin who kept on walking here and there, muttering angry words as if Pansy Parkinson was there with them.

"You should've slapped her back" suggested Ron who just got out of the infirmary and sat beside Stephanie on the window ledge.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at Ron, "You do know that that won't solve the problem"

"But still, look at what she did to Stephanie. She was defenseless!"

"Hermione is right" Stephanie said and put the handkerchief down, feeling her cheek go numb because of the ice. "It wouldn't solve anything if I slapped her back"

"But blimey, she's gone mental over a seat"

"It's not just about the seat, Ron, it was because of Draco" added Hermione, "She wanted to sit with him but Draco chose Stephanie to be his seatmate. Out of jealousy, she hit Stephanie"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Seriously Ronald, you don't know anything about girls"

Stephanie laughed softly and somehow forgot the incident that happened with Pansy. The four of them decided to change the topic and talked about the Christmas holidays that was coming up in a few weeks. Hermione said that her parents would be out of the country so she might as well spend the holidays with the Weasleys. As for Harry, well, he had always spent the holidays with Ron's family ever since he met them. He wasn't a stranger to them. Stephanie didn't know what her plans would be for the holidays. A trip back to London would be too much hassle and she hoped that the weasleys would be willing to accommodate one more guest. They continued to chit chat since their next class wouldn't start until another hour when they heard running footsteps coming their way. They turned to the direction where the sound was from and saw Draco a few meters from them. His running slowed down until he came to a halt, catching his breath and looking at Stephanie worriedly. Hermione got down from the window ledge she was sitting on and grabbed her books.

"We'll see you later, Stephanie" Hermione said with a smile, pulling her two best friends away before they could even complain.

Draco walked closer to her when the three left and quietly stood in front of her. With the bright sun shining behind her, he could clearly see the red mark that was on Stephanie's cheek. He slowly raised his hand and gently touched it, making her winced in pain.

"It hurts that much?" Draco whispered, moving his hand away from her cheek.

Stephanie managed to nod and chuckled, "It was pretty hard and I was off guard"

"That bloody girl would pay for what she did" he muttered, his hands folded into a fist and could feel adrenaline run through his body. He was really mad for what Pansy did, for hurting the girl he liked just because of a seat she couldn't have anymore. Stephanie didn't need to read his thoughts as she could clearly see how angry he was. She put the handkerchief away and gently reached for his fists that slightly loosened then intertwined with her fingers. Draco closed his eyes and somewhat felt relaxed, his body getting comfortable and felt the warm hands of Stephanie soothingly calmed him down.

"Nobody needs to pay" whispered Stephanie, looking at the relaxed Draco in front of her, "I'm fine already"

Draco opened his eyes slowly and saw her smiling at him. He smiled back and wrapped his slender arms around her waist, forgetting that they were somewhere public and anyone could see them.

"Did you do something so I would calm down?" he joked with a smile.

Stephanie laughed softly and leaned her head against his chest. She could hear the gentle beating of his heart along with his steady breathing and felt the warmth that enveloped his body. She was relaxed in his arms, secured that no one was going to hurt her while he was around. She saw a few students on the end of the hallway passing by and looking at their direction, wondering if it really was Draco Malfoy who was hugging her. But Draco didn't seem to have noticed the students or simply chose to ignore them as he suddenly hugged Stephanie tighter and buried his face on top of her head. He pressed his lips against her head and inhaled the sweet fragrance of the beautiful girl he was with.

"Would you like to go somewhere?" Draco asked, gently rubbing her back. He wanted to take her somewhere and take her mind off of what happened.

Stephanie looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes, "Like where?"

"Come on, I know a place which I think you might like"

And Draco took her hand as they walked out on the courtyard and passed by the greenhouse where Professor Sprout usually held her Herbology class. Stephanie looked around curiously as she had never been in that part of the castle grounds. They went down and followed a path made out of pebbles until ripples of water could be heard. The wind gently blew and the surrounding greenery danced along to its tune. The leaves on a beautiful big tree flew and landed on the clear surface of the lake, making ripples after ripples. Stephanie was staring in awe, not realizing that there was a beautiful lake just below the castle grounds. Draco saw the delight in her eyes and pulled her, walking closer to the lake.

"I didn't know there was a lake" admitted Stephanie, sitting on the grass under the tree and looked at the lake.

Draco sat beside her and took off his vest. He placed it on his lap and loosened the green tie around his neck. He smiled at her and looked at the lake as well, listening to the sound of nature that surrounded it.

"I heard that Longbottom kid talk about this place during Herbology class" explained Draco, plucking out a blade of grass and played with it, "So I asked him for the directions"

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him, "You didn't scare him or anything, right?"

"Hmm, let's just say he needed some persuasion" replied Draco with a playful smile.

Stephanie laughed and looked at the water again. She gently placed her hand an inch from the clear water's surface and slowly raised her hand higher. The water followed her hand's direction as if it was magnetized, leaving a line of water erected from the surface. She swayed her hands like a music teacher conducting a group of musicians and the water followed its every direction. Draco watched in amazement as he had never seen anyone do such a thing without the help of a wand and it was Stephanie's first time revealing it to someone.

"I like being around the water" shared Stephanie with a smile, concentrating at the vertical water until it turned into a ball shape, "It's relaxing and fun. My father told me that's what I got from my mother, the love for the water"

"Where's your mother?" Draco asked curiously.

"She died when I was still a baby. My dad told me she died in a car accident"

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that"

"It's alright. Things happen for a reason, you know"

"Just like our meeting in the platform?"

Stephanie giggled, "Exactly. We met for a reason"

The ball of water dropped into the water and became one with the lake again when Stephanie squealed. She was pushed back down on the grass by Draco, who was reclining on top of her. Her face turned red as she stared into his blue eyes and shivered when Draco moved her brown bangs back.

"It's amazing, how you make me feel this way" Draco whispered, looking into the pair of green eyes in front of him, "Meeting you was fate and an example of real magic"

He moved closer with eyes closed and his lips pressed against hers passionately. Stephanie's heart was racing and her body felt stiff. Although they've kissed each other several times before, she was still nervous about it. She closed her eyes tight and held the back of Draco's neck, kissing him back as passionately as he did. Draco smiled into the kiss and kissed her some more, pressing his body against hers. They shared intimate kisses with each other on the grassy field under the tree, not realizing that they weren't alone anymore.

"Is that you, Stephanie?" a high yet gentle voice asked.

Stephanie quickly pushed Draco away and sat up startled to hear another voice. She saw Luna Lovegood standing on the path of pebbles smiling at her.

"H-hi Luna" Stephanie stuttered, her face turning a dark shade of red in embarrassment.

Luna smiled and didn't seem to mind what they were doing, "Hello Stephanie"

"Uhm, uh, you know Draco Malfoy"

Draco sat up ruffling his hair in annoyance for getting disturbed, yet managed to give their guest a forced smile.

"Oh yes, I've seen him around" shared Luna.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I usually come here to feed the jellounder"

"Jellounder?"

"They're flounders that look like jellyfish" explained Luna and showed them the plastic of roasted chicken she was holding which she was going to feed the jellounder.

Draco looked down, trying not to laugh with such nonsense and Stephanie didn't actually know what to say. She had never heard of such creature and wasn't sure if there really is one.

"Err, well, Draco and I will go ahead now" was all Stephanie could say and gave her odd friend a smile.

Draco stood up, placing his vest over his shoulder, and pulled up Stephanie with both hands. Luna threw some of the roasted chicken into the lake and looked back at them.

"See you around and you have something on your hair" Luna said and continued what she was doing.

"Oh I do?" Stephanie blinked and touched her hair.

Draco laughed softly and noticed a few blades of grass sticking on her brown hair. He volunteered to pull them out and they ran up the path of pebbles, laughing at what just happened.


	15. Chapter 15

The mark of the Christmas holidays had appeared, covering the castle and its surrounding with heavy amount of white snow. The atmosphere smelled of the crisp scent of pine and cinnamon as the castle was decorated with green wreaths and hollies and other Christmas ornaments. Mistletoes were hanging above doors and windows, catching the attention of romantic couples and those people who desperately wanted to kiss someone. The great hall was bright with golden lights and a giant Christmas tree stood at the center with snow falling down from the roof. Everybody was in a jolly mood and the ghosts were floating about and greeting the children a happy holidays. Some were exchanging gifts and some were already leaving to be with their family. Four small brown trunks were properly aligned by the aisle near the Gryffindor table along with two big gold cages. Hedwig was hooting, excited to go on a trip, while Stardust was quietly sleeping in her cage. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Stephanie were having breakfast that consisted of eggnog, bagels, and ham waiting for the carriages to arrive from Hogsmeade. Ron was already opening up some of the presents he had received from his friends while stuffing his mouth with food.

"Seriously, Ronald, you eat like a pig" Hermione said and turned her attention to Stephanie, "Are all those gifts for you?"

A great pile of gifts were lying on the table, big and small, and were wrapped with colorful wrappers and ribbons. Harry looked at some of it and read the cards that came with it. Majority of it were from guys that obviously fancied her. In just one term, his cousin became as popular as he was. Stephanie was popular amongst the guys for being the newest pretty girl in Hogwarts. They didn't only adore her for her looks but, as well as her personality. She was a very sweet girl that always had a smile on her face. She was pretty down to earth as well and got along with a lot of people. Although she gained a lot of fans amongst the male students, she also gained a lot of female antis.

Stephanie looked at the gifts and sighed, "I've been receiving them since yesterday. I really don't know where to put them anymore. The girls in our dorm aren't too happy with it"

"I'm guessing they're just jealous that you have a lot of guys after you" Harry teased and put the gift back to the pile.

"I don't need them to go after me"

"Because somebody already caught you" Hermione said with a playful smile.

Stephanie blushed and smiled at what Hermione said. She was right; somebody already caught not only her attention but, also her heart. After knowing each other within the past four months, Stephanie finally accepted Draco Malfoy to be her boyfriend. Nobody in Hogwarts knew about it except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She was really happy with their relationship although they had to meet around the castle secretly. She continued to eat when she heard someone called her name. She looked at the great hall's big open doors and found Draco, wearing his usual black formal attire, peeking. A big smile appeared on Stephanie's face as she got on her feet and ran towards him.

"It's still weird" Ron muffled with a mouth full of food as he watched Stephanie and Draco smiling at each other. Harry and Hermione watched as well and couldn't help but to agree with Ron.

"But it's kind of good, isn't it?" harry said and drank the remaining half of his eggnog, "He became less arrogant when he and Stephanie got together. He stopped annoying us already or would just completely ignore us"

"We should be thankful to Stephanie then" Hermione said and laughed.

Stephanie couldn't stop smiling in front of her boyfriend. He really looked handsome and elegant in his formal attire. Draco, too, was simply stunned with how beautiful his girlfriend looked in her red long sleeve dress with small ruffles on the hem and a short red hooded poncho that looked like a little cloak. Her legs were covered with black stockings and a pair of gray boots to keep her feet warm. She was looking elegant like a modern little red riding hood.

"You have something for me?" Stephanie asked like an eager little girl.

Draco playfully pouted his lips, "How can I give you surprises if you keep doing that?"

"Keep doing what?"

"That mind reading thing?"

Stephanie giggled, "I didn't read your mind, silly. I can see something behind your back"

Draco was definitely hiding a medium sized present, wrapped in green and tied with a black ribbon, behind his back. He turned slightly red as he shyly handed her the box. Stephanie eagerly took it from him and saw a letter attached to it.

"Can I open this now?" Stephanie asked excitedly.

She was about to untie the black silk ribbon around the present when Draco suddenly stopped him with an embarrassed smile.

"Open it when you're alone, okay?" Draco instructed.

"But why? Is it something weird?"

"It's not _that_ weird. I just don't want anyone else to see that it came from me. Promise me you'll open it when you're all alone"

"Okay, I promise"

"Good" and Draco quickly kissed her lips which took Stephanie by surprise. He didn't usually kiss her on the lips when they were out in public, well, except when they're in the library. He pulled back and smiled, pointing at the mistletoe that suddenly appeared over their heads. Stephanie looked at it as well and couldn't help but to smile. Harry called his cousin out loud, telling her that they had to go to Hogsmeade already to board the Hogwarts express. The couple hugged each other tightly one last time, saying their final farewells.

"I'll see you next term" Draco said and kissed her forehead.

Stephanie kept on hugging him and nodded, "Have a wonderful holiday"

"I doubt that it would be that wonderful since you're not around but yes, have a wonderful holiday too. I love you"

"I love you too"

The both of them kissed under the mistletoe again and Harry called out for Stephanie once more, not amused to see his cousin snogging with Draco. Stephanie ran back towards her companions holding the present she received and carried Stardust's cage. Harry and Ron were kind enough to carry some of the presents that were on the table and the four of them headed on their way out to board a carriage that would take them to Hogsmeade.

Hagrid was at the station, helping out students load their trunks and other stuff inside the train when Harry spotted him. The young boy approached his friend and gave him a hug wishing him a happy holiday. Hagrid did the same and reminded Harry to take care of himself and Stephanie. After their goodbyes, Harry went inside the train and greeted the other students he passed by. He looked at every compartment until he found his cousin and two best friends. He joined them and sat beside Stephanie who was holding the present she got from Draco.

"What did he get you?" Harry asked curiously, poking the green box on her lap.

Stephanie looked down at the box and chuckled, "I'm not entirely sure but, he told me to open it when I'm alone"

"A secret now, is it?" Ron said as he opened another one of Stephanie's present and ate the chocolates that were in it.

Hermione gasped and slapped Ron's arm. He didn't do anything but to stuff his mouth with food as if he hadn't been fed for days or weeks.

"Seriously, Ronald, I can understand that you eat like a lunatic but to eat someone else's food without asking permission!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oh no, it's alright" Stephanie said nicely and let Ron eat some more, "I'm pretty sure most of those gifts are food and I don't think I can eat it all of it"

"See? She's not so bummed out about it" Ron mumbled and continued to eat with Hermione rolling her eyes.

The train began to move and every student in the train was excited to see their family again for the holidays.


	16. Chapter 16

The Weasley's house was decorated with bright and colorful ornaments with a little Santa flying around on a broomstick. The moment the young Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Stephanie stepped inside the house Mrs. Weasley shrieked in excitement and gave all of them tight hugs and kisses on their cold cheeks leaving a lipstick mark. All their trunks and other stuff were placed in one corner while Mr. Weasley gladly took the owl cages to someplace warm and cozy. Fred and George lazily sat down on the living room couch with their feet on the table while Ginny headed upstairs to her room. Everyone was feeling at home, except for Stephanie. It was her first time to spend Christmas with a different family and she was still feeling shy about it. She stiffly stood in one corner, holding her present, looking at the Christmas ornaments. Mrs. Weasley just finished checking up on Ron and Harry when she saw Stephanie awkwardly standing in the corner. She smiled sweetly as she approached the young girl.

"Are you feeling quite alright, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked like a concerned mom, putting her hand over her shoulder.

Stephanie quickly nodded and blushed, "Oh, yes I am. Thank you for letting me stay here for the holidays"

"It's our pleasure, dear. Your cousin, Harry, is like family to us already. So we will treat you like family as well. Make yourself at home during your stay here, alright?"

"I will, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you very much"

"And oh before I forget, there is something here for you"

Stephanie waited patiently and curiously watched Mrs. Weasley look through the cupboard for something. She moved away the pile of presents she prepared for everyone and grabbed a small orange box at the very bottom and an envelope that was slightly creased. She tried straightening it up before handing it to Stephanie along with the small box.

"Arthur paid your father a visit and he wanted to give this to you" Mrs. Weasley explained.

Stephanie thanked her as she took the letter and box then walked towards the small living room and found a vacant seat. She sat down on the cozy chair and placed the green and orange boxes on the coffee table beside her and quickly opened the envelope. She pulled out the folded letter and slowly unfolded it to reveal her father's writing.

_Dear Primrose,_

_How's my little nugget doing? I hope you're having a wonderful time in that new school you're attending. I'm pretty sure you are since you told me that it's a castle. This is our first Christmas not together and it's quite sad. Don't worry though; I'm with your Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia for the holidays. They said they wish to see you soon and teach Dudley a thing or two about soccer. I got you a present, I'm sorry if it's not anything you fancy. You know I'm not good with gifts. Have a wonderful Christmas! I'm sure Arthur's family is treating you well. He's a good chap, quite funny. Oh well, I'll end it here now. Say hi to your cousin for me._

_ Love, dad_

Stephanie had put the letter on the coffee table and grabbed the small orange box and shook it near her ear, guessing whatever was inside it. It was light and pretty solid. She pulled the orange lid of the box and peeked inside. It was a clip with white crystals on it that sparkled under the light. She smiled and clipped her hair with it, seeing her reflection on the blue vase sitting on the table.

"Well well well, aren't you looking dashing these days" Fred pointed out, a bowl of pumpkin chips laying on his lap.

Stephanie almost forgot that the twins were on the couch adjacent to her. Her cheeks slightly turned pink and just gave them a smile while putting the letter back inside the envelope. George leaned forward with his forearms resting on his lap and gave Stephanie a grin, a playful grin as if he knew something about her. Stephanie noticed it and felt quite uncomfortable and couldn't maintain eye contact with him.

"You can read my mind right now, can you?" George chuckled, his grin remained on his face while Fred chuckled and continued eating his chips.

"N-no" Stephanie lied and took the green medium box that Draco gave her and placed it on her lap.

"Fine then, I'll just ask you directly. What's it like having that Draco Malfoy kid as your boyfriend?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about"

"Oh come on now, I don't think he'll be too happy to hear you deny your relationship" Fred leaned against George and grinned at her as well.

Stephanie's ears were bright red already as she gripped onto the box she was holding and cleared her throat.

"H-how did you know about us?" she mumbled, wondering if their relationship wasn't a secret after all.

"Ron" the twins chimed in unison with wide smiles on their faces.

Stephanie looked at Ron's direction, who was sitting at the dinner table with Harry talking about girls and watching Mrs. Weasley prepare their food for Christmas eve while unwrapping another one of Stephanie's presents. She should've known that Ron would blab about it.

"Don't worry, we're keeping your relationship a secret to everyone else" Fred promised once he noticed the annoyed look on her face.

Stephanie felt relieved. As much as she wanted their relationship to be out in the public, it was for the best to keep it a secret. She wouldn't want Pansy to know about it either.

"We saw Malfoy walking around the hallway holding that behind his back" George said and pointed at the box Stephanie was holding, "He seemed to be secretive about it"

"Well, he told me I should only open it when I'm alone"

"Why is that?"

"I'm not sure. He stopped me earlier when I wanted to open it"

"Well, open it now. It's not like he'll know. Unless he's got some sort of spy here"

"Or it must be some sort of fancy knickers"

"Hey!" Stephanie blushed harder and threw a pillow at the twins who kept on laughing and insisting her to open it.

She sighed and looked at the box for a long time. The twins were right, Draco wouldn't know she opened it in public unless someone told him. She slightly puffed her cheeks and slowly untied the black ribbon and placed it on the table which then George quickly grabbed and tied it around his twin's head. She held the box's lid on either side and pulled it up. She looked inside curiously and so did the twins. Inside the box was a small green container and a black velvet rectangular case, the kind where necklaces were placed. She took the rectangular one first and quickly opened it, surprised to see what was inside. Connected to the silver chain was a glass pendant shaped like an inverted teardrop and inside it was a tiny single red rose. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen.

"Let me put that for you" George said and quickly stood up from the couch.

"Oh thank you" replied Stephanie and carefully handed him the necklace.

George stood up behind her and squinted his eyes as he tried to open the lock of the necklace. While he placed it around her neck, Stephanie moved on to the other present and opened the container.

"What is it?" George asked, still concentrating on opening the lock of the necklace.

Fred looked inside the container and raised an eyebrow, "They look like cookies to me. Some are actually burnt"

The cinnamon cookies were properly aligned in the container. The strong scent of the spice filled the living room and it looked delicious even if some of it were over baked. With Stephanie's permission, Fred took a piece and quickly took a bite on it. He slowly chewed on it, savoring the flavor, and nodded in approval.

"It's really good" Fred complimented and ate the remaining half, "The burnt part is quite bitter but it's still good"

"I'm pretty sure Draco would be happy you complimented his baking skills" Stephanie said with a smile.

George finally finished putting on the necklace for her and quickly took a piece of cookie while Fred just gave her an astonished look.

"You mean to tell me that Slytherin's Draco Malfoy baked cookies?" George, who sat on the chair's arm and nommed on the cookie, asked.

Stephanie chuckled and waved the letter she was reading, to them. The twins leaned closer to her, almost squishing Stephanie between them, and read the letter quietly inside their head.

_Dear Stephanie,_

_It's already the holidays and it saddens me that I won't be able to see you until the start of the next term. I actually miss you already. Hopefully you'll enjoy your holidays. And for the gifts, I feel pretty embarrassed about the cookies. Remember the time we were having History of Magic class? I overheard you tell Granger you find it attractive when a guy can cook or bake. So, there you go. I honestly did that on my own, without any help. Mum and dad thought I was sick when they saw me making it during the weekend. I do hope it doesn't taste ghastly. And the necklace, it would look pretty lovely on you. Wear it all the time, alright? That would make me really happy. I'll see you soon after the holidays. I love you Primrose Stephanie._

_ All the love,_

_ Draco _

The twins started nudging Stephanie with teasing smiles on their faces.

"Your boyfriend is quite greasy, eh?"

"And he even baked it for you! Wicked, Draco Malfoy is baking. You don't get to hear that kind of story everyday"

"True and he knows how to say I love you"

The twins continued to talk about the surprising acts of Draco and the gentle words he actually knew how to say. Stephanie just chuckled and took a piece of the sweet scented cookie and took a small bite. She smiled at how tasty it was and she couldn't believe that Draco went through all the hassle of baking cookies just for her. It, of course, truly made her really happy. After everything her cousin and friends said about Draco, he couldn't believe that not once had she ever encountered that side of him. He was completely a different person around her, a very loving and gentle guy. She snapped out of her day dreams about her boyfriend when she heard Harry yelling at Ron. The young redhead was clinging onto Harry like a Koala and was smiling at him like he was in love. He was also starting to mutter guys' names from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff which started to worry Mrs. Weasley. Eventually, one or more of the presents that was supposed to be Stephanie's had love potions in it. Hermione couldn't help herself but to laugh, thinking that he deserved it for being such a gluttonous moron. The others laughed as well while Mrs. Weasley started making an antidote for her son and Harry checking the other gifts if they had any trace of love potions.

Ten minutes to midnight, Mrs. Weasley swung her wand and the dining table magically prepared itself with plates, wine goblets, and everything. Everybody found a place to sit and Stephanie decided to stay beside Harry. The long table was completely filled with lots of yummy food and everyone was starting to reach here and there. Mrs. Weasley served her husband, Fred and George were starting to argue about who takes the last Turkey leg, Ron was healed from the love potion and was now stuffing his mouth with corn bread, and the two girls were eating and sharing stories. Stephanie was very pleased to see such a jolly crowd, the kind she never saw during her previous Christmases with her dad.

"Merry Christmas, Stephanie" her cousin, Harry, greeted her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Stephanie smiled at him, "Merry Christmas to you too, Harry"


	17. Chapter 17

Christmas vacation quickly passed as the students found their selves once again in the familiar halls of Hogwarts. The once spacious hallways were now swarming with young witches and wizards, meeting up with their friends they missed during vacation and shared exciting stories about the holiday that had passed. Stephanie, on the other hand, was still having a hangover from the holidays. She was already missing Mrs. Weasley's homemade food and the hours she spent playing around the burrow or sleeping. But now she was back in school and was running late for her Charms class. In her Gryffindor uniform, Stephanie scurried along the hallway with her bag and books, squeezing herself through the crowd. The necklace she received last Christmas dangled around her neck as she kept on running and shimmered under the sunlight. Ever since she got the necklace, she never took it off unless she needed to take a bath. For her, it was a lucky charm and she felt like Draco was always with her whenever she wore it.

She was breathing heavily as soon as she reached her Charms class to find out that Professor Flitwick wasn't around yet. Only three or four students came in early and were already in their respective seats, quietly reading their books while waiting for the professor. Stephanie took a deep breath and dragged herself in, wiping the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead. She sat on the chair located on the first row and dumped her bag on top of the table. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to have Charms with neither Harry nor Hermione. They were both taking advanced classes for Astronomy which was at the same time as Charms. She sat on hear seat quietly and played with her necklace when Ron finally arrived, yawning, and sat down beside her.

"Good morning!" Stephanie said ecstatically.

Ron groaned after hearing her chirpy voice and just gave her a nod and rested his head on top of his desk. He, too, was having a hangover from their vacation. He didn't do much during the holidays but eat. More students were coming inside the classroom and one of them was Draco Malfoy followed by his friends Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. The Slytherin girl kept on talking about how she and her family spent the holidays in Paris, telling Draco how it was the city of love and how nice it would've been if he was there. But Draco didn't pay her any attention; he was actually looking around the classroom for someone. When he finally spotted Stephanie in the front row, he smiled and made his way in, pushing the students that was on his way. Stephanie just finished putting her bag down on the floor when she saw Draco walking towards her. She was so excited to see him after almost a month worth of vacation. Before she could even stand up and utter a word, Draco held her cheeks and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips that made everyone gasp.

Ron woke up with all the buzzing that was happening in the classroom. He was still dazed from his sleep but saw Draco's friends standing by the door with shocked expressions on their faces. He slowly followed their gaze and found his best friend's cousin snogging three inches from him. His eyes were wide open, completely awake with what he saw.

"Bloody hell, I think I need to puke" Ron said and quickly ran outside.

Draco gently pulled away from the kiss and looked at the surprised expression of his beautiful girlfriend.

"Hello, love" he said with a grin and quickly pushed away Ron's stuff to the other table and sat down.

Stephanie's cheeks were bright red and couldn't seem to process what just happened. Her heart was pounding and her ears began to heat up once she finally realized that she was kissed in front of a crowd. The room was noisy with buzzing sounds and the sobbing of Pansy who quickly ran outside. But Stephanie didn't seem to notice any of it as her eyes were fixed onto Draco only. She tried to speak but only successfully muttered, "H-hi"

Their small Charms professor, Professor Flitwick, managed to get through the crowd of buzzing students and went up a small ladder. He cleared his throat to get their attention but nobody was really participating. Taking a deep breath, he tapped his wand onto the table.

"Now now, everybody settle down and take your seats!" he exclaimed.

The buzzing gradually subsided and the students took their seats but, their eyes remained at Draco and Stephanie's direction. Professor Flitwick started the class enthusiastically by asking his students how their vacation was and shared that he spent his being chased around by a dragon Hagrid was taking care of. Laughter aroused from the class. After the short introduction, he began his lesson and introduced a few fun spells that would come in handy for them. He turned to Draco and asked him to perform one of the spells perfectly. He quietly took out his elegant wand out from his cloak and faced Stephanie.

"Orchideous!" Draco summoned with a tap of his wand.

Slowly, a bouquet of fresh red primroses and snowdrops came out from the tip of the wand. He took the flowers and carefully handed it to Stephanie with a small smile on his face. Stephanie shyly took the bouquet of flowers and the students, even Professor Flitwick, swooned over them. Charms class was entirely fun and it was the first time everyone else saw Draco enjoy.

The news about Draco and Stephanie had spread throughout the castle with students, ghosts, portraits, and staff talking about it that morning. Some male and female students were jealous about it because they were both equally good looking while some were completely surprised to hear that a famous pureblood who despised muggle-borns actually kissed a half-blood. When Stephanie stepped out of the class with Draco, she felt so awkward that all attention was at them. They would instantly whisper at one another and look at them as if they were famous celebrities. Draco didn't like all of the attention as well and quickly took Stephanie's hand and passed through the crowd.

The sun was high up in the blue sky, melting away the remaining few white snow. Although it was sunny that morning, the wind that blew was still chilly. The surroundings felt quiet once the couple left the castle and walked down the path headed to the black lake. They stood under the tree and Stephanie breathed out and saw her own breath. Draco turned to her, smiling, and gently wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again as passionately as earlier during Charms class.

"D-Draco" Stephanie mumbled into the kiss, "What happened to our relationship being a secret?"

Draco continued to kiss her so much for the times they didn't see each other and mumbled between every kiss, "I don't want to hide it anymore. I want to be able to do this with you anytime and anywhere even if there are bloody people around"

Stephanie leaned back on the tree they were under and kissed him back. She was pretty happy with his decision and it would actually stop other guys from trying to feed her chocolates with love potions in it. The both of them missed each other so much that their kiss was becoming intimate with Draco biting her lower lip. Stephanie didn't seem to mind and continued to kiss him passionately and feeling her body heat up under the cold weather. Draco was so drawn to the kiss that he didn't notice his hand was slipping down her thigh and under her black skirt. Stephanie quickly grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes while catching her breath from their passionate kiss.

"I'm not ready for that kind of thing" she whispered innocently, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

Draco caught his breath and felt a bit disappointed. But he understood as well and wouldn't force her to do something she wasn't comfortable with. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug.

"I missed you so much" he whispered back, planting his lips on top of her head.

Stephanie smiled and relaxed into his arms, swaying a bit under the big tree, "I missed you too"

"I see you're wearing the necklace I gave you"

"It's the most beautiful thing I've seen, Draco. I feel terrible that I didn't get to give you anything"

"Nonsense, you already gave me something"

Stephanie looked at him confused and tried to remember what it was exactly that she gave. Draco chuckled and kissed her forehead sweetly.

"You gave me your heart, love" he whispered softly as they started to sway again.

"You're good with words" Stephanie pointed out, flattered with what he said and unconsciously made her smile.

"Well, they're not entirely just words. They're feelings"

"I know" she grinned then remembered what happened earlier, "They would all talk about us the entire time, do you know that?"

"Err, yes, as a matter of fact, I do. But who cares? At least we don't get to hide it anymore"

"Well, how would your friends react? What if your parents found out about us?"

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to meet you"

Stephanie wasn't sure if she was going to be glad or not with what he said. She had heard about Draco's family from Harry of course. The Malfoys were very rich and powerful in the wizarding world. They were proud of their pureblood lineage and despised anything to do with muggles or half-bloods. Draco noticed that Stephanie had gotten paler as if she saw a ghost right in front of her. He gently cupped her chin and gave her a smile that made her relax.

"Don't worry" said Draco, "I will introduce you only when you're ready"

"Do they know I'm related to Harry?" Stephanie asked curiously.

Draco shook his head, "All I told them is that I'm dating a wonderful half-blood from Gryffindor"

Stephanie giggled and kissed him again, happy that Draco was proud of her. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost eleven, which was the start of her Muggle studies class.

"I have to get back for my next class" she said, holding his hand, feeling sad that Draco wouldn't be with her for one period.

Draco was saddened about it too but nodded. They walked up the path and could once again hear the noisy crowds around the castle.

"Let's have lunch together?" he suggested.

"That would be wonderful!" Stephanie said excitedly and gave him one last kiss before running on her way to her class, "I'll see you later!"

A/N: What do you guys think about it so far? I'll try to update it as soon as possible. I leave you with this for now. Thank you for reading and it would be wonderful if you guys would leave a review :D


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